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THE  ART  OF  THE 
ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


DEDICATED 
TO  THE  MEMORY  OF 


JAKOB  BURCKHARDT 


Portrait  of  Count  Castiglione,  by  Raphael. 


THE  ART  OF  THE 

ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


A   HANDBOOK  FOR 
STUDENTS  AND  TRAVELLERS 


FROM  THE  GERMAN  OF 

HEINRICH  WOLFFLIN 

Professor  of  Art- History  at  Berlin  University 
WITH  A  PREFATORY  NOTE  BY 

SIR  WALTER  ARMSTRONG 

Director  of  the  National  Gallery,  Dublin 


ILLUSTRATED 


LONDON  :  WILLIAM  HEINEMANN 
NEW  YORK  :   G.   P.   PUTNAM'S  SONS 
MCMIII 


t 


All  rights  reserved 


PREFATORY  NOTE 


In  this  interesting  treatise  a  German  writer  has  made  an 
attempt,  and  a  curiously  successful  one,  to  deal  with  the  great 
period  of  the  High  Renaissance  in  Italy  from  a  somewhat  novel 
point  of  view — that,  in  fact,  of  the  craftsman  himself,  rather 
than  that  of  the  interpreter.  Passing  over  the  anecdotic  and 
historical  aspects  of  schools  and  periods,  he  has  made  a  syn- 
thetic study  of  that  completed  form  of  art  which  has  been 
described — mistakenly,  he  contends— as  a  return  to  classic  ideals 
brought  about  by  the  discovery  of  antique  models.  He  has 
confined  himself  for  purposes  of  demonstration  to  the  works 
of  the  great  masters  of  Central  Italy.  The  book  is  of  modest 
dimensions,  and  its  author  does  not  claim  to  have  dealt  ex- 
haustively with  his  vast  theme,  but  rather  to  be  one  of  the 
pioneers  in  a  field  that  has  been  strangely  neglected  by  art- 
historians  and  the  newest  school  of  art-critics — the  field  of 
pure  aesthetics.  Insisting  strongly  on  the  necessity  of  systematic 
work  on  this  fruitful  ground,  Herr  Wolfflin  does  not  wander 
haphazard  among  the  artistic  phenomena  of  the  period.  The 
whole  question  of  colour,  for  instance,  has  been  left  for  future 
consideration.  He  deals  here  with  problems  of  form  alone. 
From  this  point  of  view  he  has  given  us  an  excellent  treatise 


3 


viii 


PREFATORY  NOTE 


on  composition,  or  design,  to  use  that  word  in  its  widest  sense, 
dealing  chiefly  with  the  character  and  action  of  figures,  and  the 
pattern  made  by  them.  The  result  is  a  trustworthy  guide  to 
the  minds  of  those  painters  who  belonged  to  the  Schools  of 
Florence  and  Rome — the  schools  of  pure  design,  as  distinguished 
from  those  which  placed  their  chief  dependence  on  colour  and 
chiaroscuro.  Speaking  broadly,  his  reasoning  is  the  unconscious 
reasoning  of  the  painter  put  into  words,  so  that  he  conveys  to 
the  reader  the  whys  and  wherefores  of  things  from  the  artist's 
own  standpoint.  Anyone  reading  Herr  Wolffiin  carefully  may 
fairly  assume  that  he  is  following  the  workings  of  Raphael's 
mind  as  he  built  up  things  like  the  Disjmta,  the  School  of 
Athens  and  the  Madonna  di  San  S'lsto. 

WALTER  ARMSTRONG. 


CONTENTS 


PACE 

INTRODUCTION 

Classic  Art  1 

PART  I 

I.  Preliminary  Survey  7 

TI.  Leonardo  25 

1.  The  Last  Supper  29 

2.  The  Monna  Lisa  35 

3.  St.  Anne  with  the  Virgin  and  the  Infant  Christ  40 

4.  The  Battle  of  Anghiari  42 

III.  Michelangelo  (to  1520)  46 

1.  Early  Works  47 

2.  The  Ceiling  of  the  Sistine  Chapel  58 

3.  The  Prophets  and  Sibyls  64 

4.  The  Slaves  67 

5.  The  Tomb  of  Julius  72 

IV.  Raphael  78 

1.  The  Marriage  of  the  Virgin  and  the  Entombment  80 

2.  The  Florentine  Madonnas  85 

3.  The  Camera  della  Segnatura  90 

The  Disputa  92 

The  School  of  Athens  96 

Parnassus  99 

Jurisprudence  102 


X 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

IV.  Raphael  (continued) 

4.  The  Camera  d'Eliodoro  103 

The  Chastisement  of  Heliodorus  104 

The  Deliverance  of  Peter  106 

The  Mass  of  Bolsena  108 

5.  The  Cartoons  for  Tapestries  111 

6.  The  Roman  Portraits  120 

7.  Roman  Altar-pictures  131 

V.  Fra  Bartolommeo  143 

VI.  Andrea  del  Sarto  157 

1.  The  Frescoes  of  the  Annunziata  158 

2.  The  Frescoes  of  the  Scalzo  162 

3.  Madonnas  and  Saints  169 

4.  A  Portrait  of  Andrea  177 

VII.  Michelangelo  (after  1520)  185 

1.  The  Chapel  of  the  Medici  185 

2.  The  Last  Judgment  and  the  Pauline  Chapel  194 

3.  The  Decadence  195 

PART  II 

I.  The  New  Feeling  201 

II.  The  New  Beauty  225 

III.  The  New  Pictorial  Form  247 

1.  Repose,  Space,  Mass  and  Size  248 

2.  Simplification  and  Lucidity  251 

3.  Enrichment  263 

4.  Unity  and  Inevitability  275 

Conclusion  284 


I 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGK 

Portrait  of  Count  Castiglione,  by  Raphael  Frontispiece 

David,  by  Donatello  12 

David,  by  Yerrocchio  13 

Madonna.    Relief  by  Rossellino  14 

Angel  bearing  Candelabrum,  by  Luca  della  Robbia  15 

Angel  bearing  Candelabrum,  by  Benedetto  da  Majano  16 

Allegory  of  Spring,  by  Botticelli  17 

Raphael's  Madonna  di  Foligno.     From  Marc  Antonio's 

engraving  23^ 

Study  of  a  Girl's  Head,  by  Leonardo  da  Vinci  27 

The  Last  Supper,  by  Ghirlandajo  30 

The  Last  Supper,  from  an  engraving  by  Marc  Antonio  3S 

Bust  of  a  Florentine  Girl,  by  Desiderio  35 

Portrait  of  Monna  Lisa,  by  Leonardo  da  Vinci  37 

St.  Anne  with  the  Virgin  and  Infant  Christ,  by  Leonardo 

da  Vinci  41 

Abundantia,  by  Gianpietrino  45- 

Pieta,  by  Michelangelo  47 

The  Madonna  of  Bruges,  by  Michelangelo  48 

Madonna  and  Child,  by  Benedetto  da  Majano  49 


f 


LIST   OP  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Madonna  with  the  Book.    Relief  by  Michelangelo  50 

Holy  Family,  by  Michelangelo  51 

David,  by  Michelangelo  54 

Apollo,  by  Michelangelo  55 
Fragment  from  the  Cartoon  of  the  Bathing  Soldiers,  by 

Michelangelo  5  7 

The  Erythraian  Sibyl,  by  Michelangelo  66 
Figures  of  Slaves,  by  Michelangelo.  (From  the  first  group)  68 
Figures  of  Slaves,  by  Michelangelo.     (From  the  third  group)  69 

Figure  of  a  Slave,  by  IVlichelangelo  70 

Tomb  of  the  Cardinal  of  Portugal,  by  Antonio  Rossellino  73 

Tomb  of  a  Prelate,  by  Andrea  Sansovino  75 
The  Virgin  with  SS.  Sebastian  and  John  the  Baptist,  by 

Perugino  79 

The  Entombment,  by  Perugino  82 

The  Entombment,  by  Raphael  83 

The  Madonna  del  Granduca,  by  Raphael  86 

The  Madonna  della  Sedia,  by  Raphael  87 

The  Madonna  del  Cardellino,  by  Raphael  88 

The  Madonna  della  Casa  Alba,  by  Raphael  89 

The  Deliverance  of  St.  Peter,  by  Domenichino  107 

The  Miraculous  Draught  of  Fishes  113 

Feed  my  Lambs  "  115 

The  Death  of  Ananias  117 

Portrait  of  Francesco  dell'  Opere,  by  Perugino  123 

Portrait  of  a  Cardinal,  by  Raphael  125 

The  Violin-Player,  by  Sebastiano  del  Piombo  127 

Dorothea  (Portrait),  by  Sebastiano  del  Piombo  129 


LIST   OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


xiii 


PAGE 

La  Donna  Velata,  by  Raphael  131 

Madonna  with  two  kneehng  Saints,  by  Albertinelli  135 

The  Transfiguration,  by  Giovanni  Bellini  138 

Fragment  from  the  Transfiguration,  by  Raphael  139 

The  Transfiguration,  by  L.  Carracci  141 

Vintage.  From  the  Engraving  by  Marc  Antonio  142 
The  Virgin  appearing  to  St.  Bernard,  by  Fra  Bartolommeo  147 

Madonna  with  Saints,  by  Fra  Bartolommeo  149 
The  Risen  Christ  with  the  Four  Evangelists,  by  Fra 

Bartolom  m  eo  152 

Pieta,  by  Fra  Bartolommeo  153 

The  Holy  Trinity,  by  Albertinelli.  154 

The  Annunciation,  by  Albertinelli  155 

The  Birth  of  the  Virgin,  by  Andrea  del  Sarto  159 

The  Preaching  of  John  the  Baptist,  by  Andrea  del  Sarto  164 

The  Preaching  of  John  the  Baptist,  by  Ghirlandajo  165 

Salome  Dancing  before  Herod,  by  Andrea  del  Sarto  167 

Justice,  by  A.  Sansovino  169 

The  Annunciation,  by  Andrea  del  Sarto  170 

The  Madonna  delle  Arpie,  by  Andrea  del  Sarto  171 

Disputa,  by  Andrea  del  Sarto  172 
The  Madonna  with  six  Saints  (1524),  by  Andrea  del  Sarto  174 

The  Madonna  del  Sacco,  by  Andrea  del  Sarto  175 

St.  John  the  Baptist,  by  Andrea  del  Sarto  177 

Supposed  Portrait  of  Himself,  by  Andrea  del  Sarto  ]  79 

Portrait  of  a  Youth,  by  Franciabigio  183 

The  Tomb  of   Lorenzo  de'  Medici,  with  the  figures  of 

Morning  and  Evening,  by  Michelangelo  187 


xiv 


LIST   OP  ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

The  Medici  Madonna,  by  Michelangelo  190 

Crouching  Boy,  by  Michelangelo  191 

Christ,  by  Michelangelo  192 

An  Allegory,  by  Bronzino  193 

Venus  and  Amor  {II  Giorno),  by  Vasari  197 

The  Adoration  of  the  Shepherds,  by  P.  Tibaldi  198 

Baptism  of  Christ,  by  Yerrocchio  202 

Baptism  of  Christ,  by  A.  Sansovino  203 

Pieta.    (From  Marc  Antonio's  engraving  after  Raphael)  205 

The  Visitation,  by  Sebastiano  del  Piombo  207 

Madonna  and  Child  with  Angels,  by  Filippino  Lippi  216 

The  youthful  St.  John  Preaching,  by  Raphael  224 

The  Birth  of  John  the  Baptist,  by  Ghirlandajo  226 
Tobias  with  the  Angel,  by  Verrocchio  (  ?)  (or  perhaps 

Botticini)  227 

Attendant  carrying  Fruit,  by  Ghirlandajo  228 

Woman  carrying  Water,  by  Raphael  229 

Venus,  by  Lorenzo  di  Credi  230 

Venus,  by  Franciabigio  (?)  231 

La  bella  Simonetta,  by  Piero  di  Cosimo  232 

Vittoria  Colonna  (so-called),  by  Michelangelo  233 

Allegory,  by  Filippino  Lippi  240 

Venus.  (Copy  from  Marc  Antonio's  engraving)  246 
Three  Female  Saints  (fragment),  by  Sebastiano  del  Piombo  253 

Prudence,  by  Pollaiuolo  256 

Reclining  Venus  (fragment),  by  Piero  di  Cosimo  260 

Reclining  Venus,  by  Titian  261 

Perseus  (cast),  by  Benvenuto  Cellini  264 


LIST   OP  ILLUSTRATIONS 


XV 


PAGE 

Giovannino.  in  the  Berlin  Museum  265 

St.  Cosmo,  by  Montorsoli  266 

St.  John  the  Baptist,  by  J.  Sansovino  267 

Madonna  with  eight  Saints,  by  Andrea  del  Sarto  268 

Madonna  with  Angels  and  six  Saints,  by  Botticelli  269 

Madonna  with  the  two  SS.  John,  by  Botticelli  274 

The  Death  of  Peter  Martyr,  by  Gentile  Bellini  (?)  278 

The  Death  of  Peter  Martyr,  by  Titian  279 

St.  Jerome,  by  Basaiti  280 

St.  Jerome,  by  Titian  281 

Holy  Family,  by  Bronzino  285 


INTRODUCTION 


CLASSIC  ARTi 

The  word  "  classic"  has  a  somewhat  chilly  sound.    It  seems  to  thrust 

us  out  of  the  brilliant,  living  world  into  an  airless  space,  the  abode  of 

shadows,  not  of  human  beings  with  warm  red  blood.    Classic  Art  represents 

for  us  eternal  death,  eternal  age,  the  fruit  of  the  academies,  a  product  of 

teaching  rather  than  of  life.    And  our  thirst  for  the  living,  the  actual, 

the  tangible  is  so  insatiable  !    The  art  the  modern  man  demands  is  an  art 

that  savours  of  earth.    The  Quattrocento,  and  not  the  Cinquecento,  is  the 

darling  age  of  our  generation  ;  we  love  its  frank  sense  of  reality,  its  naivete 

of  vision  and  emotion.    We  readily  take  a  few  archaisms  of  expressions 

into  the  bargain,  so  pleasant  is  it  to  admire  and  to  smile  at  the  same  time. 

The  traveller  at  Florence  pores  with  unquenchable  delight  over  the  pictures 

of  the  old  masters,  who  tell  their  story  so  artlessly  and  sincerely  that 

he  feels  himself  transported  into  the  cheerful  Florentine  room  where  a 

woman  receives  her  visitors  after  child-birth,  or  into  the  streets  and  squares 

of  the  mediaeval  city  where  the  people  stand  about,  and  whence  one  or  the 

other  of  the  actors  in  the  scene  looks  out  of  the  picture  at  us  with  a 

vitality  positively  startling.    Everyone  knows  Ghirlandajo's  paintings  in 

Santa  Maria  Novella.    How  gaily  the  artist  sets  forth  the  legends  of  the 

Virgin  and  of  St.  John,  telling  the  story  in  a  homely,  but  not  a  sordid 

fashion,  showing  life  under  its  holiday  aspect,  with  a  healthy  delight  in 

colour  and  profusion,  costly  raiment  and  ornaments,  rich  architecture  and 

plenishings.    What  could  be  daintier  than  Filippino's  picture  in  the  Badia, 

^  It  will,  of  course,  be  understood  that  throughout  this  work,  the  author  uses  the 
term  "Classic  Art"  in  a  special  sense,  applying  it  to  the  Art  of  the  High  Renaissance 
in  Italy.— Tr. 

B 


2  THE    ART   OP   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


of  the  Madonna  appearing  to  St.  Bernard.,  and  laying  her  slender  hand  on  his 
book  ?  And  what  an  aroma  of  Nature  breathes  from  the  lovely  girl-angels 
who  attend  the  Virgin,  and  press  forward,  timid  yet  inquisitive,  behind 
her  mantle,  their  hands  mechanically  folded  in  the  attitude  of  prayer,  as 
they  look  wonderingly  at  the  strange  man.  Before  Botticelli's  charm  even 
Raphael  himself  must  yield,  and  he  who  has  once  fallen  under  the  spell  of 
his  sensuous  melancholy  will  be  apt  to  find  a  Madonjia  della  Sedia 
uninteresting. 

The  early  Renaissance  calls  up  a  vision  of  slender-limbed,  virginal 
figures  in  variegated  robes,  blooming  meadows,  floating  veils,  spacious 
halls  with  wide  arches  on  graceful  pillars.  It  means  all  the  fresh  vigour  of 
youth,  shining  eyes,  all  that  is  bright,  transparent,  lively,  cheerful,  natural 
and  varied.    Pure  nature,  yet  nature  with  a  touch  of  fairy  splendour. 

We  pass  unwillingly  and  distrustfully  from  this  gay  and  many-coloured 
world  into  the  still  and  stately  halls  of  classic  art.  What  manner  of  men 
are  these  ?  Their  gestures  seem  strange  to  us.  We  miss  the  child-like 
unconscious  charm  of  a  more  intimate  art.  Here  there  is  no  one  who  looks 
at  us  like  an  old  friend.  Here  are  no  cosy  rooms  with  homely  utensils 
scattered  about,  but  colourless  walls  and  massive  architecture. 

Indeed,  the  modern  Northerner  approaches  works  of  art  such  as  the 
School  of  Athens  so  wholly  unprepared  for  their  enjoyment,  that  his 
embarrassment  at  a  first  sight  of  them  is  not  unnatural.  We  can  hardly 
blame  him,  if  he  secretly  asks  himself  why  Raphael  did  not  rather  choose 
to  paint  a  Roman  flower- market,  or  some  such  animated  scene  as  that  of 
the  peasants  coming  to  be  shaved  on  Sunday  mornings  in  the  Piazza 
Montanara.  The  artistic  problems  solved  in  those  other  works  have  no 
points  of  contact  with  modern  dilettantism,  and  we,  with  our  archaic 
predilections,  are  fundamentally  incapable  of  appreciating  these  master- 
pieces of  form.  We  delight  in  primitive  simplicity.  We  enjoy  the  hard, 
childishly  clumsy  construction,  the  jerky,  breathless  style  of  the  precursors, 
and  neither  understand  nor  value  the  artistically  rounded,  sonorous  periods 
of  their  successors. 

But  even  when  the  thesis  is  more  familiar,  as  when  the  Cinquecentists 
treat  the  old  simple  themes  of  the  Gospel  cycle,  the  indifference  of  the 
public  is  still  comprehensible.  It  feels  itself  on  insecure  ground,  and 
cannot  tell  whether  it  should  accept  the  gestures  and  ideas  of  classic  art  as 
genuine.    It  has  had  to  swallow  so  much  false  classicism,  that  it  turns  with 


INTRODUCTION 


3 


zest  to  coarser  but  purer  fare.    We  have  lost  faith  in  the  grandiose.  We 

have  become  weak  and  distrustful,  and  evervwhere  we  detect  theatrical 

sentiment  and  empty  declamation. 

And  the  factor  that  counts  for  most  in  our  distrust  is  the  perpetual 

suggestion  that  this  art  is  not  original,  that  it  derives  from  the  antique, 
f  that  the  marble  world  of  the  buried  past  laid  a  deathly  hand  on  the 
I  blooming  life  of  the  Renaissance. 

I  Yet  classic  art  is  but  the  natural  sequence  of  the  Quattrocento,  a 
i  perfectly  spontaneous  manifestation  of  the  Italian  genius.  It  was  not  the 
outcome  of  imitation  of  a  foreign  exemplar — the  antique — it  was  no 
|[  product  of  schools,  but  a  hardy  growth,  springing  up  at  a  period  of  most 
1  vigorous  life. 

This  correlation  has  been  obscured  for  us,  because — and  herein  perhaps 
lies  the  real  ground  of  the  prejudice  against  Italian  classicism — a  purely 

(national  movement  has  been  taken  for  universal,  and  forms  which  have  life 
and  meaning  only  under  certain  skies  and  on  certain  soil  have  been 
reproduced  under  whollv  different  conditions.  The  art  of  the  High 
i  Renaissance  in  Italy  is  Italian  art,  and  its  idealisation  of  reality  was  after 
]|  all,  but  an  idealisation  of  Italian  realities. 

Vasari  himself  so  divided  his  work  as  to  open  a  new  section  with  the 
'  sixteenth  century,  that  period  in  relation  to  which  the  earlier  stages  were 
to  appear  but  as  preliminary  and  preparatory.  He  begins  the  third 
division  of  his  art-history  with  Leonardo.  Leonardo's  Last  Supper  was 
painted  in  the  last  decade  of  the  fifteenth  century.  It  was  the  first  great 
work  of  the  new  art.  ^Michelangelo  made  his  (Uhit  at  the  same  time. 
I  Nearly  twenty-five  years  younger  than  the  Milanese,  he  too  had  new  things 
to  say  in  his  very  first  works.  Fra  Bartolommeo  was  his  contemporary. 
Raphael  followed  at  an  interval  of  about  ten  years,  and  Andrea  del 
Sarto  came  close  upon  him.  Broadly  speaking,  the  first  twenty-five  years 
of  the  sixteenth  century  are  taken  as  representative  of  the  classic  evolution 
in  Romano-Florentine  art. 

It  is  not  altogether  easy  to  take  a  general  survey  of  this  epoch. 
Familiar  as  its  masterpieces  have  been  made  to  us  from  our  youth  up 
by  means  of  engravings  and  reproductions  of  all  kinds,  it  is  only  by  slow 
degrees  that  we  can  form  a  coherent  and  lively  idea  of  the  world  that 
bore  these  fruits.  It  is  otherwise  with  the  Quattrocento.  The  fifteenth 
century  still  lives  before  our  eyes  in  Florence.    ^luch  has  disappeared. 


'1 


4  THE   ART   OP   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


much  has  been  removed  from  its  natural  setting  to  the  prisons  of  the 
museums,  but  still,  there  are  many  places  left  in  which  one  seems  to 
breathe  the  very  air  of  the  period.  The  Cinquecento  is  represented  in 
more  fragmentary  fashion  ;  in  ftict,  it  never  achieved  complete  expression. 
In  Florence  one  feels  that  the  vast  substructure  of  the  Cinquecento  lacks 
its  crown.  The  final  development  is  not  clearly  apparent.  I  am  not 
alluding  to  the  early  removal  of  easel  pictures,  in  consequence  of  which 
there  is  very  little  of  Leonardo's  left  in  Italy,  but  to  the  dissipation  of 
forces  that  took  place  in  the  very  beginning.  Leonardo's  Last  Supper, 
which  belongs  incontrovertibly  to  Florence,  was  painted  for  Milan. 
Michelangelo  became  half-Roman,  Kaphael  wholly  so.  But  among  their 
Roman  achievements  are  the  Sistine  ceiling,  an  absurdity,  a  penance  to 
the  artist  and  the  spectator,  and  those  paintings  Raphael  was  obliged  to 
execute  on  walls  in  the  Vatican,  where  no  one  can  see  them  properly. 
Of  the  rest,  how  much  was  actually  finished,  how  much  of  the  short 
period  of  perfection  went  further  than  the  initial  project,  and  how  much 
escaped  immediate  destruction 't  Leonardo's  Last  Su])per  itself  is  a  wreck. 
His  great  battle-piece,  destined  for  Florence,  was  never  completed,  and 
even  the  cartoon  is  lost.  Michelangelo's  Bathing  Soldiers  shared  the  same 
fate.  Of  the  tomb  of  Julius  II.,  only  two  figures  were  executed,  and  the 
facade  of  San  Lorenzo,  which  was  to  have  been  a  mirror  reflecting  the 
soul  of  Tuscan  architecture  and  sculpture,  was  never  carried  out.  The 
Medici  Chapel  is  only  a  partial  compensation ;  already  it  verges  on  the 
baroque.  Classic  art  has  left  us  no  monument  in  the  great  style,  in  which 
architecture  and  sculpture  are  welded  together  for  perfect  expression  ;  and 
the  great  achievement  of  architecture,  in  which  all  the  artistic  forces  of 
the  age  combined,  St.  Peter's  at  Rome,  Avas  destined  after  all  to  be  no  true 
monument  of  the  High  Renaissance. 

Classic  art  then  may  be  likened  to  the  ruins  of  an  unfinished  building, 
the  original  form  of  which  must  be  reconstructed  from  fragments  widely 
scattered  and  from  imperfect  tradition,  and  there  is  perhaps  much  justice 
in  the  assertion  that  in  all  the  history  of  Italian  art  there  is  no  more 
obscure  epoch  than  that  of  its  golden  age. 


PAET  I 


I 


PRELBIINAllY  SURVEY 

Italian  Painting  begins  with  Giotto.  It  was  he  who  loosened  the 
tongue  of  art.  AA^hat  he  painted  has  a  voice,  and  what  he  relates  becomes 
an  experience.  He  explored  the  wide  circle  of  human  emotion,  he  dis- 
coursed of  sacred  history  and  the  legends  of  the  saints,  and  every- 
where of  actual,  living  things.  The  heart  of  the  incident  is  always 
plucked  out,  the  scene,  with  its  effect  upon  the  beholders,  is  always  brought 
before  us,  just  as  it  must  have  taken  place.  Giotto,  like  the  preachers  and 
poets  of  the  school  of  St.  Francis  of  Assisi,  undertook  to  expound  the 
sacred  story,  and  to  elucidate  it  by  intimate  details  ;  but  the  essence  of 
his  achievement  is  to  be  found,  not  in  poetic  invention,  but  in  pictorial 
presentment,  in  the  rendering  of  things  that  no  one  had  hitherto  been  able 
to  give  in  painting.  He  had  an  eye  for  the  speaking  elements  of  a  scene, 
and  perhaps  painting  never  made  such  a  sudden  advance  in  expressive 
power  as  in  his  time.  Giotto  must  not  be  looked  upon  as  a  kind  of 
Christian  Romantic,  who  bore  about  in  his  pocket  the  outpourings  of  a 
Franciscan  brother,  and  whose  art  had  blossomed  under  the  inspiration 
of  that  infinite  love  bv  which  the  Saint  of  Assisi  drew  heaven  down  to 
earth,  and  made  the  world  an  Eden.  He  was  no  enthusiast,  but  a  man 
of  realities ;  no  poet,  but  an  observer  ;  an  artist  who  is  never  carried  away 
by  the  ardour  of  his  eloquence,  but  whose  speech  is  always  limpid  and 
expressive. 

Others  surpassed  him  in  fervour  of  emotion  and  in  force  of  passion. 
Giovanni  Pisano,  the  sculptor,  shows  more  soul  in  his  more  inflexible 
material  than  the  painter  Giotto.  The  story  of  the  Annunciation  could 
not  have  been  more  tenderly  told  in  the  spirit  of  that  age  than  by  Giovanni 
in  his  relief  on  the  pulpit  at  Pistoja,  and  in  his  more  passionate  scenes 


8  THE   ART   OP   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


there  is  something  of  Dante's  fiery  spirit.  But  this  very  quahty  was  his 
undoing.  He  forced  expression  too  far.  The  desire  to  express  emotion 
destroyed  the  sense  of  form,  and  the  master's  art  ran  riot. 

Giotto  is  cahner,  cooler,  more  equable.  His  popularity  will  never 
wane,  for  all  can  understand  him.  The  rough  traits  of  national  life 
appealed  to  him  more  strongly  than  its  refinements,  and  he  sought  his 
effects  in  clarity  rather  than  in  beauty  of  line.  His  works  are  curiously 
lacking  in  that  harmonious  sweep  of  draperies,  those  rhythmic  movements 
and  attitudes  which  constituted  style  in  his  generation.  Compared  with 
those  of  Giovanni  Pisano,  they  are  clumsy,  and  with  those  of  Andrea 
Pisano,  the  master  of  the  brazen  gates  of  the  Baptistery  at  Florence, 
absolutely  ugly.  The  grouping  of  the  two  women  who  embrace  and  the 
servant  attending  them  in  Andrea's  Vwitation,  is  a  sculptured  melody. 
Giotto's  rendering  is  hard,  but  extraordinarily  expressive.  One  does  not 
easily  forget  the  line  of  his  Elizabeth  bending  down  to  look  into  the 
Virgin's  face  (Chapel  of  the  Arena,  Padua)  ;  whereas  of  Andrea's  group 
one  retains  but  a  vague  impression  of  harmonious  curves. 

Giotto's  art  reached  its  highest  expression  in  the  frescoes  of  Santa 
Croce.  In  clarity  of  representation  he  here  went  beyond  all  his  earlier 
works,  and  in  composition  he  essayed  effects  which  entitle  him,  in  intention 
at  least,  to  rank  beside  the  masters  of  the  sixteenth  century.  His  own 
immediate  successors  could  not  understand  this  aspect  of  his  art.  Simplicity 
and  concentration  were  again  abandoned  ;  painters  desired  above  all  things 
to  be  rich  and  varied  ;  in  the  effort  to  be  profound,  they  produced  pictures 
that  were  confused  and  ambiguous.  Then,  at  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  a  painter  appeared  who  set  things  right  by  his  vigorous  initiative, 
and  determined  the  pictorial  aspects  of  the  visible  world.  This  master 
was  Masaccio. 

The  student  at  Florence  should  not  fail  to  see  Masaccio  immediately 
after  Giotto,  in  order  to  note  the  difference  in  all  its  intensity.  The 
contrast  is  amazing. 

Vasari  makes  a  remark  about  Masaccio,  which  has  a  somewhat  trivial 
and  obvious  sound.  "  He  recognised  that  painting  is  but  the  imitation  of 
things  as  they  are."  ^  One  might  ask  why  the  same  should  not  have  been 
said  of  Giotto.  The  sentence  has  probably  a  meaning  deeper  than  the 
superficial  one.  What  now  seems  to  us  a  connnonplace — that  painting 
1  Vasari,  Le  Vite  (ed.  Milanesi),  II.  288. 


9 


should  give  an  impression  of  reality — was  not  always  an  axiom.  There 
was  a  time  when  this  requirement  was  quite  unknown,  and  for  the  sufficient 
reason,  that  it  was  believed  to  be  essentially  impossible  to  suggest  the 
tactile  quality  of  material  objects  on  a  flat  surface.  This  was  the  received 
opinion  of  the  whole  mediaeval  period.  Men  were  content  with  a  repre- 
sentation that  merely  suggested  objects  and  their  relation  to  one  another 
in  space,  without  any  idea  of  inviting  a  comparison  with  Nature.  It  is 
a  mistake  to  suppose  that  a  mediaeval  picture  was  ever  approached  with 
our  preconceptions  of  illusory  effect.  It  was  undoubtedly  one  of  the 
greatest  advances  achieved  by  humanity,  when  this  limitation  was  recog- 
nised as  prejudicial,  and  when  men  began  to  believe  that  it  might  be 
possible  to  achieve  something  which  should  come  near  to  the  actual 
impression  made  by  Nature,  though  the  effects  might  be  produced  by  very 
different  means.  No  one  man  could  have  brought  about  such  a  re-adjust- 
ment of  ideas.  A  single  generation  indeed  could  not  suffice.  Giotto  did 
something  towards  it;  but  Masaccio  added  so  much,  that  he  was  very 
justly  described  as  the  first  artist  Mho  attained  to  "  the  imitation  of  things 
as  they  are."" 

First  of  all,  he  amazes  us  by  his  thorough  mastery  of  the  problems  of 
space.  In  his  hands  for  the  first  time  a  picture  became  a  stage,  in  the 
construction  of  which  a  certain  fixed  point  of  sight  was  kept  steadily 
in  view,  a  space  in  which  persons,  trees  and  houses  had  then-  duly  and 
geometrically  determined  places.  In  Giotto's  works  everything  was  still 
massed  together ;  he  superimposed  head  above  head,  without  asking 
himself  how  their  respective  bodies  Avere  to  find  places,  and  the  archi- 
tecture of  the  background  has  the  appearance  of  unsubstantial  stage 
scenery,  bearing  no  sort  of  actual  proportion  to  the  figures.  Masaccio 
not  only  portrays  possible,  habitable  houses,  but  gives  a  sense  of  space 
that  extends  to  the  last  line  of  his  landscapes.  His  point  of  sight  is 
taken  on  a  level  with  the  heads,  and  the  crowns  of  the  heads  of  figures 
on  the  equal  surfaces  are  therefore  all  of  a  height.  This  gives  an  extra- 
ordinary appearance  of  solidity  to  a  row  of  three  heads  in  profile,  one 
behind  the  other,  terminating  perhaps  with  a  fourth  head,  seen  full-face. 
Step  by  step  we  are  led  into  the  depths  of  the  given  space ;  everything 
is  ranged  in  clearly  defined  strata,  one  behind  the  other.  The  student 
who  wishes  to  see  the  new  art  in  all  its  glory  should  go  to  Santa  Maria 
Novella,  and  study  the  fresco  of  the  Trinity.    Here,  by  the  aid  of  archi- 


10  THE   ART   OF   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


tecture,  and  the  use  of  intersections,  four  zones  are  developed  towards  the 
background,  and  the  illusion  of  space  is  astonishing.  Beside  this,  Giotto's 
work  looks  absolutely  flat.  His  frescoes  in  Santa  Croce  have  the  effect  of 
a  carpet  ;  the  uniform  blue  of  the  sky  suffices  in  itself  to  bind  the  various 
pictures  together  in  a  common  effect  of  flatness.  It  would  seem  as  if  the 
artist  had  had  no  idea  of  laying  hold  of  some  element  of  reality  ;  the 
flat  surface  of  the  division  is  at  best  uniformly  filled  up  to  the  top,  as  if 
the  painter  had  been  required  to  decorate  it  in  some  ornamental  fashion. 
All  round  the  design  are  bands  with  mosaic  patterns,  and  when  these 
patterns  are  again  repeated  in  the  picture  itself,  the  imagination  is  not 
constrained  to  make  any  distinction  between  the  frame  and  the  thing 
enframed,  and  the  suggestion  of  a  flat  wall-decoration  becomes  unpleasantly 
obtrusive.  Masaccio  enframes  his  scenes  between  painted  pilasters,  and 
seeks  to  produce  the  illusion  of  a  continuation  of  the  picture  behind 
these. 

Giotto  barely  indicates  the  shadows  cast  by  solid  bodies,  and  for  the 
most  part  altogether  ignores  the  shadow  cast  by  a  body  in  light  upon  a 
light  ground.  It  was  not  that  he  had  never  noticed  them,  but  that  it 
seemed  to  him  unnecessarv  to  insist  upon  them.  He  looked  upon  them  as 
disturbing  accidents  in  a  picture,  bv  which  the  subject  was  in  no  wise 
elucidated.  In  Masaccio's  hands,  light  and  shade  become  elements  of  flrst- 
rate  importance.  It  seemed  to  him  essential  to  render  the  actual  condition 
of  things,  and  to  show  the  full  force  of  natural  effects  on  material  objects. 
His  manner  of  treating  a  head  with  a  few  vigorous  indications  of  form 
gives  a  totally  new  impression.  Bulk  is  expressed  here  with  unprecedented 
power.  And  it  is  the  same  with  all  other  forms.  As  a  natural  con- 
sequence of  this  treatment,  the  high  tones  of  the  earlier  pictures  with  their 
shadowy  effects  give  place  to  a  more  substantial  system  of  colour. 

The  whole  structure  of  pictures  was  consolidated,  so  to  speak,  and  here 
we  may  appropriately  quote  another  remark  of  Vasari's,  to  the  effect  that 
it  was  Masaccio  who  first  made  figures  stand  on  their  feet. 

Besides  this  there  is  something  else,  the  intensified  feeling  for  the 
personal,  for  the  peculiarities  of  the  individual.  Even  Giotto  differentiates 
his  figures,  but  his  are  only  general  distinctions.  Masaccio  gives  us  clearly 
marked  individual  characteristics.  The  new  age  is  termed  the  century  of 
'  Realism.'  The  word  has  now  passed  through  so  many  hands  that  it 
no  longer  has  any  clear  meaning.    Something  proletarian  clings  to  it,  a 


11 


semblance  of  bitter  opposition,  where  coarse  ugliness  wishes  to  force  itself 
in,  and  claims  its  rights,  since  it  too  exists  in  the  world.  The  quattro- 
centist  realism  is,  however,  essentially  joyous.  It  is  the  higher  estimate, 
which  brinies  new  elements.  Interest  is  no  Ioniser  confined  to  the  individual 
head,  but  the  vast  variety  of  individual  attitudes  and  movements  is 
included  in  the  realm  of  worthy  motives  for  representation,  attention  is 
given  to  the  will  and  mood  of  each  particular  material,  and  the  artist 
rejoices  in  the  stubborn  line.  The  old  laws  of  beauty  seemed  to  do  violence 
to  nature ;  the  swaying  attitude,  the  varied  modulations  of  the  drapery, 
were  felt  to  be  merely  beautiful  phrases,  of  which  men  had  become  weary. 
A  mighty  need  arose  for  reality,  and  if  one  thing  shows  sincere  belief  in  the 
value  of  the  newly  comprehended  sense  of  vision  more  strongly  than  another, 
it  is  the  circumstance  that  even  supernatural  beings  for  the  first  time 
appear  credible  in  earthly  dress,  with  individual  features,  and  without  a 
trace  of  idealism  in  their  representation. 

It  was  not  a  painter,  but  a  sculptor,  in  whom  the  new  spirit  was  next 
destined  to  manifest  itself  most  synthetically.  Masaccio  died  young,  and 
tl  could  therefore  but  briefly  express  himself,  but  Doxatkllo  is  a  conspicuous 
j  figure  throughout  the  entire  first  half  of  the  fifteenth  century  ;  his  works 
form  a  long  series,  and  he  is  indisputably  the  most  important  personality 
of  the  Quattrocento.  He  took  up  the  peculiar  tasks  of  the  time  with 
unrivalled  energy,  and  yet  he  was  never  carried  away  by  the  one-sided- 
ness  of  an  unbridled  realism.  He  was  a  portrayer  of  men  who  pursued 
the  characteristic  form  to  the  very  depths  of  ugliness,  and  then  again  in 
all  calm  and  purity,  reproduced  the  image  of  a  tranquil  and  bewitching 
beauty.  There  are  statues  of  his  in  which  he  drains  an  abnormal 
individuality  to  the  very  dregs,  as  it  were,  and  side  by  side  with  these  are 
figures  like  the  bronze  David.,  where  the  High  Renaissance  feeling  for 
beauty  already  rings  out  clear  and  true.  He  is  withal  a  storyteller 
of  unsurpassable  vividness  and  dramatic  force.  A  panel  like  the  St.  John 
relief  at  Siena  may  be  fitly  designated  the  best  narrative  of  the  century. 
At  a  later  date,  in  the  Miracles  of'  St.  Anthou?j  at  Padua,  he  attacks 
veritable  cinquecentist  problems,  introducing  excited  and  dramatic  crowds, 
which,  compared  with  the  quiet  rows  of  bystanders  in  contemporary 
pictures,  represent  a  really  memorable  anachronism. 

The  counterpart  of  Donatello  in  the  second  half  of  the  Quattrocento  is 
Verrocchio  (1435-1488),  who  is  in  no  way  comparable  to  him  in  personal 


12  THE   ART   OP   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


greatness,  but  is  the  manifest  represent- 
ative of  the  new  ideals  of  a  new  genera- 
tion. 

From  the  middle  of  the  century  a 
growing  desire  for  delicacy,  grace  of  limb, 
and  elegance  is  discernible.  The  figures 
lose  their  ruggedness ;  they  are  of  a  more 
slender  type,  small  of  wrist  and  ankle. 
The  plain  blunt  stroke  is  resolved  into 
a  smaller,  finer  movement.  The  artist 
begins  to  take  pleasure  in  exact  model- 
ling. The  most  delicate  undulations  of 
surface  are  noticed.  Tension  and  move- 
ment are  aimed  at  rather  than  repose 
and  reticence ;  the  fingers  are  spread  out 
with  a  conscious  elegance,  there  is  much 
turning  and  bending  of  the  head,  much 
smiling  and  emotional  uplifting  of  the 
eyes.  Affectation,  by  the  side  of  which 
natural  feeling  has  not  always  been  able 
to  hold  its  own,  gains  ground.  The  con- 
trast is  already  evident  when  Verrocchio's 
bronze  David  is  compared  with  the  similar 
figure  by  Donatello.  The  sturdy  youth 
has  become  a  lithe-limbed  boy,  still  very 
spare,  so  that  many  outlines  are  visible, 
with  a  pointed  elbow,  which  is  deliberately 
included  in  the  chief  silhouette  by  the 
placing  of  the  hand  on  the  hip.^  Tension  is  expressed  in  every  limb. 
The  outstretched  leg,  the  compressed  knee,  the  straining  arm  with  the 
sword  are  all  in  strong  contrast  to  the  repose  which  marks  Donatello''s 
figure.  The  whole  conception  is  based  on  an  impression  of  movement. 
The  head  even  is  noAv  required  to  express  movement,  and  a  smile  steals 
over  the  features  of  the  youthful  concpieror.    The  master's  desire  for  grace 

^  The  illustration  unfortunately  does  not  give  quite  the  true  front  view.  In  the 
original  there  is  also  a  difference  of  size  ;  Verrocchio's  David  is  about  one-third  smaller 
than  Donatello's. 


Ltavid,  by  Donatello. 


PRELIMINARY  SURVEY 


13 


finds  satisfaction  in  the  de- 
tails of  the  armour,  ^hich 
dehcately  follows  and  inter- 
rupts the  fine  lines  of  the 
body,  and  when  ^\  e  note  the 
thorough  modelling  of  the 
nude,  Donatello's  sunnnary 
process  seems  empty  indeed 
compared  with  \'errocchio\s 
wealth  of  form. 

The  same  spectacle  is 
offered  by  a  comparison  of 
the  two  equestrian  figures, 
those  of  Gattemelata  at 
Padua  and  of  Colleoni  in 
Venice.  Verrocchio  expresses 
the  utmost  tension  in  the 
seat  of  the  rider  and  the 
movement  of  the  horse.  His 
Colleoni  is  riding  with  rigid 
legs,  and  the  horse  presses 
forward  in  a  ^^'ay  that  con- 
veys the  impression  that  it 
is  being  pulled.  The  manner 
in  which  the  connnander's 
baton  is  grasped,  and  the 
turn  of  the  head  show  the 
same  intention.  Donatello 

by  contrast  appears  infinitely  simple  and  unpretentious.  And  again,  he 
presents  his  large  unbroken  planes,  where  Verrocchio  breaks  them  up, 
and  goes  into  minute  details.  The  trappings  of  Verrocchio's  horse  are 
meant  to  reduce  the  planes.  The  armour  in  itself,  as  well  as  the 
treatment  of  the  mane,  is  a  very  instructive  piece  of  late  quattrocentist 
decorative  art.  The  elaboration  of  the  muscular  parts  was  carried 
so  far  by  the  artist,  that  soon  afterwards  the  criticism  was  passed  that 
Verrocchio  had  made  a  horse  from  which  the  hide  had  been  stripped.^ 
^  Poniponius  Gauricus,  De  Scnlptiira. 


David,  by  Verrocchio. 


THE   ART   OP   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


The  (Imigcr  of  losing  himself  in  petty  details  was  clearly  immi- 
nent. 

VeiTOCcliio's  chief  title  to  fame  is  his  work  in  bronze.  It  was  in  his  day 
that  the  real  merits  of  the  material  were  developed.  Men  set  about  to 
break  up  the  mass,  to  separate  the  figures  and  to  silhouette  them  with 
delicacy.  Even  from  the  pictorial  side  bronze  possessed  beauties  which  were 
recognised  and  fully  turned  to  account.  The  luxuriant  wealth  of  folds  in 
drapery,  as  in  the  group  of  C^hrist  and  St.  Thomas  at  Or  San  Michele 


Madonna.     Relief  by  Rossellino. 


depends  not  only  on  the  impression  to  be  made  by  line,  but  also  on  the 
effect  of  glittering  lights,  dark  shadows,  and  scintillating  reflections. 

AVorkers  in  marble  soon  turned  the  reaction  in  taste  to  account.  The 
eve  had  learnt  to  appreciate  the  slightest  nuances,  and  stone  was 
worked  with  unprecedented  delicacy.  Desiderio  carves  his  dainty  festoons 
of  fruit,  and  shows  us  the  joy  of  life  in  his  busts  of  Florentine  maidens. 
Antonio  Rossellino,  and  the  somewhat  broader  Benedetto  da  Majano, 
rival  painters  in  wealth  of  expression.  The  chisel  renders  the  soft  flesh  of 
children  as  accurately  as  the  fine  veil  of  a  head-dress.  And  if  we  look  care- 


15 


fully,  the  wind  seems  here  and  there 
to  have  lifted  the  end  of  a  drapery, 
causing  a  playful  crumpling  of  the 
folds.  In  the  perspectives  of  archi- 
tecture or  landscape  the  depth  of 
the  relief  is  greatly  increased.  It 
may  be  said  that  ail  treatment  of 
flat  surfaces  shows  a  desire  to  leave 
an  impression  of  life-like  quiver- 
ing and  trembling. 

The  typical  ancient  motives  of 
plastic  art  are  wherever  possible 
changed  in  style,  so  as  to  express 
movement.  The  kneeling  angel 
with  the  candlestick,  as  Luca  della 
Robbia  simply  and  beautifully  de- 
picted him,  is  no  longer  sufficient ; 
he  too  is  summoned  to  join  in  the 
tumult  of  movement,  and  thus  a 
figure  such  as  Benedetto's  Angel 

bearing  Candelabrum  in  Siena  is  conceived.  With  smiling  countenance 
and  playful  turn  of  the  head  the  little  satellite  makes  his  obeisance,  his 
dress  fluttering  in  many  folds  round  his  shapely  ankles.  The  higher  de- 
velopment of  such  running  figures  is  seen  in  the  flying  angels,  who  seem  to 
cleave  the  air  with  a  stupendous  commotion  of  lines  in  their  clinging 
drapery,  whereas  being  simply  reliefs  against  a  wall,  they  only  simulate 
the  impression  of  detached  figures.  (Antonio  Rossellino,  tomb  of  the 
Cardinal  of  Portugal  in  San  Miniato.) 

The  painters  in  the  second  half  of  the  century  advance  on  parallel 
lines  with  this  group  of  sculptors  of  the  delicate  style.  They  are  naturally 
far  better  exponents  of  the  spirit  of  the  age.  It  is  they  who  colour  our 
conception  of  quattrocentist  Florence,  and  when  the  early  Renaissance  is 
mentioned,  we  think  at  once  of  Botticelli  and  Filippino  and  the  sumptuous 
pictures  of  Ghirlandajo. 

Fra  Filippo  Lippi  was  the  immediate  successor  of  Masaccio  ;  he 
modelled  his  style  on  the  frescoes  of  the  Brancacci  Chapel :  about  the 
middle  of  the  century  he  executed  some  very  creditable  work  in  the  choir- 


Aiigel  bearing  Candelabrum,  by  Luca  della 
Robbia. 


16 


THE   ART   OF   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


paintings  of  the  Cathedral  of  Prato. 
He  is  not  wanting  in  dignity  and 
as  a  Painter  in  the  special  sense 
he  stands  quite  by  himself.  His 
easel-pictures  treat  subjects  like 
the  twilit  forest  depths,  which  do 
not  appear  again  in  art  till  the 
time    of   Correggio,   and    in  his 
frescoes  he  surpasses  all  the  Floren- 
tines of  his  century  in  charm  of 
colour.    Every  one  indeed  who  has 
seen  the  apse  of  the  Cathedral  of 
Spoleto,  where  he  aimed  at  pro- 
ducing a  tremendous    marvel  of 
colour  in   his  Coronation  of  the 
Virgin,  will  acknowledge  that  it 
has  no  parallel.    For  all  this,  his 
pictures  are  faultily  constructed. 
They  lack  space  and  clarity,  and 
have  an  incoherence  that  makes 
us  regret  that  he  was  so  little  able 
to  profit  bv  the  achievements  of  Masaccio  :    the  next  generation  had 
nmch  to  clarifv,  and  it  carried  out  the  task.    If  after  a  visit  to  Prato  one 
goes  on  to  Ghirlandajo  and  studies  the  frescoes  of  S.  Maria  Novella  in 
Florence,  it  is  amazing  to  find  how  limpidly  and  calmly  he  works,  how  the 
space  clears  itself,  as  it  were,  how  assured  the  effect  is,  how  transparent 
and  comprehensible  the  whole.    Similar  merits  will  be  noticeable  on  a 
like  comparison  of  the  works  of  Filippino  or  Botticelli,  in  whose  veins, 
nevertheless,  the  blood  ran  far  less  calmly  than  in  Ghirlandajo's. 

Botticelli  (1446-1510)  was  a  pupil  of  Fra  Filippo,  but  only  his  very 
early  works  show  any  trace  of  this.  They  were  men  of  quite  distinct 
temperaments,  the  Frate  with  his  broad  laugh  and  his  uniformly 
good-tempered  pleasure  in  the  things  of  this  world,  and  Botticelli,  impetu- 
ous, fiery,  full  of  suppressed  emotion,  an  artist  to  whom  the  superficial 
elements  of  painting  appealed  but  little,  who  found  expression  in 
vigorous  lines,  and  gave  to  his  heads  at  all  times  a  wealth  of  character  and 
expression.    Recall  his  Madonna  with  the  thin  oval  face,  the  silent  mouth, 


Angel  bearing  Candelal)rum,  hy  Benedetto  da 
Majano. 


i 

1 

\ 


PRELIMINARY  SURVEY 


19 


the  sad  and  heavy  eyes ;  how  different  is  his  outlook  from  Filippo's  con- 
tented twinkle.  His  saints  are  not  healthy  beings  with  whom  all  goes 
well ;  he  gives  his  Jerome  the  consuming  fire  of  the  spirit,  and  he  thrills 
us  with  the  expression  of  rapture  and  asceticism  in  his  youthful  St.  John. 
He  is  earnest  in  his  treatment  of  the  sacred  legends,  and  his  earnestness 
grows  Avith  age,  till  he  abandons  all  charm  of  outward  appearance.  His 
beauty  has  a  careworn  air,  and  even  when  he  smiles  it  seems  but  a  passing 
gleam.  How  little  mirth  there  is  in  the  dance  of  the  Graces  in  his 
Allegorij  of  Springs  how  strange  are  the  forms  !  The  crude  spareness  of 
immaturity  has  become  the  ideal  of  the  time.  In  representing  motion  the 
artist  seeks  the  strained  and  angular,  not  rich  curves,  and  every  form  is 
delicate  and  pointed,  not  full  and  rounded.  The  master's  daintiness  is  all 
confined  to  the  flowers  and  grasses  on  the  ground,  the  gauzy  raiment  and 
jewelled  ornaments,  and  here  the  style  becomes  almost  fantastic.  But 
contemplative  lingering  over  details  was  far  from  characteristic  of 
Botticelli.  Even  in  the  nude  he  soon  wearied  of  minute  elaboration,  and 
tried  to  achieve  a  simpler  method  of  representation  by  broader  lines. 
Vasari,  notwithstanding  his  training  in  the  school  of  Michelangelo,  admits 
that  he  was  an  eminent  draughtsman.  His  line  is  always  significant  and 
impressive.  It  has  a  certain  violence.  He  is  incomparably  effective  in 
the  representation  of  rapid  motion,  he  even  gives  a  certain  fluidity  to  solid 
masses,  and  when  he  groups  his  picture  homogeneously  round  a  centre, 
some  new  result  of  great  consequence  is  produced.  His  compositions  for 
the  Adoration  of'  the  Magi  are  examples  in  point. 

FiLirpixo  Lippi  (circa  1459-1504)  must  be  mentioned  in  the  same  breath 
with  Botticelli.  An  identity  of  atmosphere  unites  two  distinct  indivi- 
dualities until  they  become  similar.  Filippino  inherited  from  his  father  a 
fund  of  talent  as  a  colourist,  which  Botticelli  did  not  possess.  The 
outer  surface  of  things  attracted  him.  He  treated  flesh-tints  more 
delicately  than  anyone.  He  gives  softness  and  lustre  to  the  hair ;  what 
was  a  question  of  lines  to  Botticelli,  was  a  problem  of  painting  to  him. 
He  shows  great  discrimination  in  his  colours,  especially  in  the  blue  and 
violet  tones.  His  line  is  softer  and  more  undulating  ;  it  may  be  said  that 
he  has  a  certain  effeminacy  of  sentiment.  Early  pictures  by  Filippino 
exist  which  are  charming  in  their  grace  of  feeling  and  execution.  Some- 
times he  seems  almost  too  soft.  The  St.  John  in  the  picture  of  the 
Virgin  with  Saints  of  1486  (in  the  Uffizi)  is  not  the  rugged  desert-preacher, 

c  2 


20  THE   ART   OF   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


but  a  seiitiineiital  enthusiast.  The  Doniiuican  in  the  same  picture  no 
longer  holds  a  book  firmly  in  his  hand,  but  merely  balances  it  upon  the 
ball  of  the  thumb  with  a  piece  of  cloth  between,  while  the  lithe  delicate 
fingei-s  move  like  sensitive  feelers.  The  subsequent  development  does  not 
correspond  to  these  beginnings.  The  inner  thrill  becomes  an  irregular 
outward  movement,  the  pictures  are  hurried  and  confused,  and  the  painter 
who  was  able  to  complete  Masaccio's  chapel  with  dignity  and  restraint, 
can  hardly  be  recognised  in  the  later  frescoes  in  S.  Maria  Novella.  He 
has  an  infinite  A\ealth  of  decorative  ornament,  and  the  fantastry  and 
exaggeration,  of  which  Botticelli  merely  shows  a  trace,  are  in  him  strongly 
marked  features.  He  threw  himself  eagerly  into  the  representation  of 
movement  and  often  achieves  magnificent  results  by  a  superabundance 
of  motion.  The  Assumption  in  S.  Maria  sopra  Minerva  w^ith  angels 
revelling  like  Bacchantes,  is  a  painted  Jubilate — then  again  he  sinks 
into  mere  uproar  and  becomes  even  crude  and  commonplace.  When  he 
paints  the  martvrdom  of  Philip,  he  chooses  the  moment  when  the  cross, 
drawn  up  on  ropes,  dangles  in  the  air,  to  say  nothing  of  the  grotesque 
costumes  in  the  picture.  The  impression  is  conveyed  that  a  consunnnate 
ability  has  been  ruined  from  want  of  mental  discipline,  and  we  understand 
whv  men  of  far  coarser  fibre,  like  Ghirlandajo,  outstripped  him.  In 
S.  Maria  Novella,  where  the  two  are  seen  together  on  adjacent  walls,  we 
soon  tire  of  Fili})pino's  convulsive  episodes,  while  Ghirlandajo,  solid  and 
sincere,  fills  the  spectator  with  real  pleasure. 

Ghiiilaxdajo  (1449-1490)  never  suffered  from  excess  of  sensibility  :  he 
was  of  phlegmatic  temperament,  but  his  frank  cheerful  spirit,  and  his 
delight  in  the  pageants  of  life  enlist  men's  sympathies.  His  work  is  very 
entertaining,  and  he  is  the  painter  who  tells  us  most  of  social  life  in 
Florence.  He  pays  little  attention  to  the  subject  of  the  legends.  He  had 
to  tell  the  story  of  the  Virgin  and  of  the  Baptist  in  the  choir  of  S.  Maria 
Novella  ;  he  has  indeed  told  it,  but  anyone  who  did  not  know  it  would 
hardly  understand  it.  What  a  picture  Giotto  made  of  the  Presentation  of 
Mary  in  the  Temple  !  How  cunningly  he  brings  the  whole  scene  before  us ; 
the  little  Mary,  who  of  her  own  free  will  mounts  the  steps  of  the  Temple, 
the  priest  bending  towards  her,  the  parents  who  follow  the  child  Avith  eye 
and  hand  !  Ghirlandajo's  Mary  is  a  smartly-dressed  school-girl,  casting 
co(iuettish  side-glances  in  spite  of  her  rapid  advance ;  the  priest  is  hardly 
visible,  for  he  is  concealed  by  a  pillar,  and  the  parents  look  on  at  the  scene 


21 


with  indifference.  In  the  Marriage,  Mary  makes  undignified  haste  to 
exchange  rings,  and  the  Visitation  is  a  pretty  but  quite  secular  present- 
ment of  a  greeting  between  two  women  in  the  street.  In  the  Message  of 
the  Angel  to  Zacharias,  Ghirlandajo  cares  nothing  that  the  real  action  is 
completely  obscured  by  the  numerous  portrait-figures  in  the  foreground,  who 
stand  unsympathetically  around.  He  is  a  painter,  not  a  narrator.  The 
object  itself  gives  him  pleasure.  His  heads  are  admirably  life-like,  but 
when  \  asari  praises  his  delineation  of  emotion,  no  eulogy  could  be  less 
appropriate.  Ghirlandajo  excels  in  repose  rather  than  in  movement.  Scenes 
such  as  the  ]\Iassacre  of  the  Innocents  are  better  rendered  by  Botticelli  than 
by  him.  In  general  he  restricts  himself  to  a  simple,  quiet  presentment,  and 
pays  his  tribute  to  the  prevailing  taste  for  movement  by  inserting  a  hurry- 
ing maid  or  some  similar  figure.  His  observation  is  never  minute.  While 
many  in  Florence  were  making  the  most  searching  enquiry  into  the 
problems  of  modelling  and  anatomy,  of  the  technique  of  colour  and  aerial 
perspective,  he  was  content  with  results  already  achieved.  He  was  no 
experimentalist,  no  pioneer  of  pictorial  science,  but  an  artist  who  possessed 
the  average  culture  of  the  day,  and  thus  equipped,  aimed  at  new  and 
monumental  effects.  He  raised  his  art  from  the  small  style  to  one  dealing 
with  the  effects  of  large  masses.  He  was  rich  and  yet  distinct,  gay  and 
sometimes  even  great.  The  group  of  the  five  women  in  The  Birth  qf  the 
Virgin  has  no  equal  in  the  fifteenth  century.  And  the  essays  which  he 
made  in  motives  of  composition,  centralisation  of  episodes  and  treat- 
ment of  corner- figures  are  such  that  the  great  masters  of  the  Cinquecento 
could  make  them  their  starting  point. 

We  must  take  care,  however,  not  to  overestimate  the  value  of  his 
work.  Ghirlandajo's  paintings  in  S.  Maria  Novella  were  completed  about 
1490  ;  in  the  years  immediately  succeeding  Leonardo's  Last  Supper  was 
painted,  and  if  this  were  available  for  comparison  in  Florence,  the  '  monu- 
mental '  Ghirlandajo  would  at  once  appear  poor  and  limited.  The  Last 
Supper  is  a  picture  infinitely  grander  in  form,  and  form  and  subject  are 
completely  in  harmony  here. 

The  assertion  often  erroneously  made  of  Ghirlandajo,  that  he  summed  up 
in  his  art  the  results  of  the  Florentine  Quattrocento,  is  in  the  highest 
degree  true  of  Leonardo  (born  1452).  He  is  subtle  in  his  observation  of 
detail,  and  sublime  in  his  conception  of  the  whole  ;  he  is  a  distinguished 
draughtsman,  and    no  less  consummate  a  painter  ;  there  is  no  artist  who 


22  THE   ART   OP   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 

has  not  found  his  own  special  problems  treated  by  him,  and  further 
developed,  and  he  excels  all  others  in  the  depth  and  intensity  of  his 
personality. 

As  Leonardo  is  usually  discussed  among  the  Cinquecentists,  we  are 
prone  to  forget  that  he  was  only  a  little  younger  than  Ghirlandajo,  and 
actually  older  than  Filippino.  He  worked  in  Verrocchio's  studio,  and  his 
fellow-pupils  there  were  Perugino  and  Lorenzo  di  Credi.  The  latter  was  a 
star,  which  did  not  shine  itself,  but  received  its  light  from  another  planet  ; 
his  pictures  seem  like  careful  exercises  on  a  set  theme ;  Perugino,  on  the 
contrary,  had  originality,  and  is  of  great  significance  in  the  contin- 
uity of  Florentine  art,  as  we  shall  see  later.  These  pupils  have  made 
V'errocchio's  teaching  famous.  His  atelier  was  clearly  the  most  versatile 
in  Florence.  The  combination  of  painting  and  sculpture  was  the  more 
desirable  since  it  was  precisely  the  sculptors  who  were  disposed  to  make  a 
methodical  attack  upon  nature,  and  there  was  thus  less  danger  of  falling 
into  the  eul-de-sae  of  an  arbitrary  individual  style.  An  intimate  affinity 
seems  to  have  existed  between  Leonardo  and  Verrocchio.  We  learn  from 
Vasari  how  closely  allied  their  interests  were,  and  how  many  threads 
Leonardo  took  up  which  Verrocchio  had  begun  to  weave.  Nevertheless 
it  is  a  surprise  to  see  the  pupil's  youthful  pictures.  The  Angel  in 
V'errocchio's  Baptism  (Florence  Academy)  moves  us  indeed,  like  a  voice 
from  another  world,  vet  how  entirely  unique  a  picture  like  the  Madonna 
of  the  Roeks  seems  in  the  series  of  Florentine  Madonnas  of  the  Quattro- 
cento ! 

Everything  in  it  is  significant  and  new  ;  the  motive  in  itself  as  well 
as  the  treatment  of  form  ;  the  freedom  of  movement  in  the  details,  and 
the  strict  observance  of  rules  in  the  grouping  of  the  whole,  the  infinitely 
subtle  animation  of  forms,  and  the  new  pictorial  value  given  to  light 
and  shadow,  the  intention  evidently  being  to  give  the  figures  a  powerful 
plas-tic  effect  by  means  of  the  dark  background,  and  at  the  same  time  to 
entice  the  imagination  into  the  depths  by  a  novel  method.^ 

^  The  picture  of  the  Madonna  of  the  Bocks  in  the  Louvre  is  so  superior  to  the  London 
example,  that  it  seems  inconceivable  that  tliere  should  have  been  any  doubt  as  to  its 
originality.  The  pointing  finger  of  the  angel  is  not  beautiful,  and  the  omission  of  the  hand  in 
the  London  picture  is  (^uite  intelligil^le  in  view  of  the  later  idea  of  beauty.  Leonardo,  however, 
if  he  had  supervised  the  replica,  would  certainly  have  known  how  to  fiiU  up  the  resulting 
gap  :  in  spite  of  the  more  prominently  advanced  shoulder  of  the  angel  there  is  now  a  hole 


23 


The  predominant  impression  of 
the  work  at  a  distance  is  the  reality 
of  the  figures,  and  the  painter's  in- 
tention of  gaining  the  effect  by 
means  of  pyramidal  grouping 
strictly  according  to  rule.  The 
picture  has  a  tectonic  structure 
quite  different  to  the  mere  sym- 
metrical arrangement  of  earlier 
pictures.  Here  there  is  at  once 
more  freedom  and  more  observance 
of  rule,  and  the  parts  haye  been 
essentially  conceived  in  their  con- 
nection with  the  whole.  This  is 
the  Cinquecentist  style.  Leonardo 
early  shows  traces  of  it.  There  is 
in  the  Vatican  a  kneeling  St.  Jerome 
ivitli  the  Li())i  by  him.  The  figure 
is  noteworthy  and  has  been  long 
admired,  as  a  study  of  movement, 
but  the  question  may  well  be  asked 
whether  anyone  besides  Leonardo  would  have  so  blended  the  lines  of  the 
lion  with  those  of  the  saint.    I  know  of  no  one. 

None  of  the  early  pictures  of  Leonardo  have  exercised  greater  influence 
than  the  unfinished  Adoration  erf'  the  Mugi  (Uffizi).  This  work  dates 
from  about  1480,  and  shows  traces  of  the  old  school  in  the  multiplicity  of 
objects.  The  Quattrocentist  delight  in  complexity  is  still  noticeable,  but  a 
new  spirit  is  expressed  by  the  prominence  given  to  the  principal  motive. 
Both  Botticelli  and  Ghirlandajo  have  painted  the  Adoration  of  the  Magi  in 
such  a  way  that  Mary  sits  in  the  centre  of  a  circle,  but  she  invariably  loses 
by  this  arrangement.  Leonardo  was  the  first  to  make  the  main  motive 
dominate.  The  position  of  the  outer  figures  at  the  edge  of  the  picture 
forming  a  sharply  defined  enclosing  line  is  again  a  motive  fruitful  in 
results,  and  the  contrast  between  the  thronging  crowd,  and  the  Madonna 

in  the  picture.  The  drawing  and  modelling  have  been  strengthened  and  simplified  in  the 
Cinquecentist  style,  by  which  much  delicacy  has  been  destroyed,  however  spiritual  the 
new  expression  of  the  angel  may  be  felt  to  be. 


Rapliaers  Madonna  di  Foligno. 
From  Marc  Antonio's  engraving. 


24 


THE   ART   OF   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


in  the  spacious  freedom  of  her  attitude,  is  a  specimen  of  that  most  effective 
style  which  can  be  attributed  to  Ix^onardo  alone.  Had  we  nothing  but  this 
group  of  Mother  and  Babe,  we  should  have  to  reckon  him  as  a  creator,  so 
unprecedently  subtle  is  the  posture  and  the  co-ordination  of  the  two  figures. 
The  others  have  represented  Mary  straddling  more  or  less  upon  the  throne, 
he  gives  her  the  more  graceful  feminine  attitude,  with  knees  drawn  together. 
Later  painters  took  all  this  from  him,  and  the  charming  motive  of  the  turn 
of  the  figure  with  the  Boy  bending  away  to  the  side  was  repeated  exactly 
by  Raphael  in  the  Machnina  di  Foligno. 


II 


LEONARDO 
1452—1519 

No  artist  of  the  Renaissance  took  more  delight  in  the  world  than 
Leonardo.  All  phenomena  attracted  him,  corporeal  life  and  human 
emotions,  the  forms  of  plants  and  animals  and  the  crystal  brook  with  the 
pebbles  in  its  bed.  The  narrowness  of  the  mere  figure-painter  was 
incomprehensible  to  him.  "  Do  you  not  see  how  many  various  kinds  of 
beasts  there  are,  what  different  trees,  herbs,  and  flowers,  what  variety  of 
mountains  and  of  plains,  of  springs,  rivers  and  towns,  Avhat  diversity  of 
dresses,  ornaments  and  arts  ?  "  ^ 

He  is  a  born  aristocrat  among  painters,  very  susceptible  to  all  that  is 
delicate.  He  appreciated  taper  hands,  transparent  drapery,  tender  skins. 
He  especially  loved  beautiful  soft,  waving  hair.  In  Verrocchio's  picture  of 
the  Baptism  he  painted  a  tuft  or  two  of  grass ;  one  sees  at  a  glance  that 
they  are  his  work.    No  one  else  has  his  feeling  for  the  beauty  of  plants. 

Strength  and  tenderness  are  equally  sympathetic  to  him.  If  he  paints 
a  battle  he  surpasses  everyone  in  the  expression  of  unchained  passion,  and 
mighty  movement,  and  yet  he  can  surprise  the  most  delicate  emotion,  and 
fix  the  most  fleeting  expression.  He  seems  when  painting  some  typical 
head  to  have  been  seized  with  the  unruliness  of  a  sworn  realist ;  then 
suddenly  he  casts  off  that  mood,  abandons  himself  to  ideal  visions  of 
almost  supernatural  beauty,  and  dreams  of  that  soft,  sweet  smile  which 
seems  the  reflection  of  an  inner  radiance.  He  feels  the  pictorial  charm 
of  superficial  things,  and  yet  has  the  mind  of  a  man  of  science  and  an 
anatomist.  Qualities,  which  would  seem  incompatible,  are  combined  in 
1  Leonardo,  Trattato  della  Pittura. 


26  THE   ART   OF   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


hini,  i.e.  the  enquirer's  unwearying  zeal  to  observe  and  collect,  and  the 
most  subtle  artistic  sensibility. 

He  is  never  satisfied  to  judge  things,  as  a  painter,  by  their  outward 
appearance,  but  with  the  same  passionate  interest  he  eagerly  explores  the 
inner  structure  and  the  conditions  of  life  in  every  creature.  He  was  the 
first  artist  who  systematically  examined  the  proportions  of  the  body  in 
men  and  animals,  and  took  account  of  the  mechanical  conditions  in  walking, 
lifting,  climbing  or  carrying,  and  he  was  also  the  one  who  carried  out  the 
most  comprehensive  physiognomical  observations,  and  consistently  thought 
out  the  method  of  expressing  the  emotions. 

The  painter  is  to  him  the  keen  universal  eye,  which  ranges  over  all 
visible  things.  Suddenly,  the  inexhaustible  treasure-house  of  the  universe 
was  unlocked,  and  Leonardo  seems  to  have  felt  himself  bound  by  an 
intense  love  to  every  form  of  life.  Vasari  relates  a  characteristic  trait ;  he 
was  sometimes  seen  to  buy  birds  in  the  market  in  order  to  set  them  at 
liberty.  The  fact  appears  to  have  made  a  great  impression  on  the 
Florentines. 

In  so  universal  an  art  there  are  no  higher  and  lower  problems ;  the  last 
subtleties  of  chiaroscuro  are  not  more  interesting  than  the  most  elementary 
task  of  giving  corporeal  shape  to  the  three  dimensions  on  the  flat  surface, 
and  the  artist,  who  made  the  human  face  the  mirror  of  the  soul  with 
unrivalled  skill,  can  still  repeat  that  modelling  is  the  chief  consideration, 
the  very  soul  of  painting. 

Leonardo  had  so  many  new  conceptions  of  things  that  he  was  forced 
to  discover  new  technical  means  of  expression.  He  became  an  ex- 
perimentalist, who  could  hardly  ever  satisfy  himself.  He  is  said  to  have 
considered  the  Monna  Lisa  unfinished  when  he  delivered  it  to  the  owner. 
Its  techni(jue  is  a  mystery.  But  where  the  work  is  quite  transparent,  as  in 
the  ordinary  silver-point  drawings,  which  all  belong  to  his  earlier  period,  the 
effect  is  none  the  less  astonishing.  It  may  be  said  that  he  was  the  first  to 
treat  line  sympathetically.  His  manner  of  making  his  outline  rise  and 
fall  in  waves  is  absolutely  unique.  He  compasses  modelling  merely 
by  parallel  straight  strokes ;  it  is  as  if  he  only  needed  to  stroke  the  surface 
in  order  to  bring  out  relief.  No  greater  result  was  ever  achieved  by 
simpler  means,  and  the  parallel  lines,  akin  to  those  of  the  older  Italian  en- 
gravings, give  an  inestimable  homogeneity  of  effect  to  the  sheets.  W e  have 
only  a  few  completed  works  by  Leonardo.    He  was  an  indefatigable  observer 


Study  of  a  Girl's  Head,  by  Leonardo  da  Vinci. 
(The  eyebrows  and  lines  on  lids  added  by  a  later  inferior  hand.) 


LEONARDO 


29 


and  an  insatiable  student,  always  setting  himself  new  problems,  but  it  seems 
as  if  he  only  wished  to  solve  them  for  himself.  He  did  not  care  to  decide 
or  definitely  complete  any  subject,  and  the  problems  he  set  himself  were 
so  enormous,  that  he  may  well  have  considered  any  conclusions  merely 
provisional. 

1.  The  Last  Supper 

After  Raphael's  Sistine  Madonna^  Leonardo's  Last  Suppi'v  is  the  most 
popular  picture  in  all  Italian  Art.  It  is  so  simple  and  expressive  that  it 
stamps  itself  on  all  memories  :  Christ  in  the  middle  of  a  long  table,  the 
Apostles  symmetrically  arranged  on  either  side  of  Him.  He  has  said 
One  among  you  shall  betray  me  ! and  this  unexpected  saying  throws  the 
whole  assembly  into  confusion.  He  alone  remains  calm,  and  keeps  His 
eyes  fixed  downwards,  and  His  silence  seems  to  repeat  the  utterance ; 
"  Yea,  it  is  so,  one  there  is  among  you,  who  Avill  betray  me.''  It  would 
seem  as  if  the  story  could  not  have  been  told  in  any  other  way,  and  yet 
everything  is  new  in  Leonardo's  picture,  and  its  very  simplicity  is  the 
triumph  of  the  highest  art. 

If  we  look  back  at  the  preliminary  stages  in  the  Quattrocento,  we  shall 
find  it  well  represented  by  Ghirlandajo's  Last  Supper  in  Ognissanti,  which 
bears  the  date  1480,  and  was  therefore  painted  some  fifteen  years  earlier. 
The  picture,  one  of  the  most  sterling  works  of  the  master,  contains  the 
old  typical  elements  of  the  composition,  the  conventional  scheme  which 
came  down  to  Leonardo  ;  the  table  with  the  return  at  either  end  :  Judas 
sitting  in  front  by  himself ;  the  twelve  others  in  a  row  behind  ;  St.  John, 
asleep  by  the  side  of  the  Lord,  his  arms  on  the  table.  Christ  has  raised 
His  right  hand,  and  is  speaking.  The  announcement  of  the  treachery 
must,  however,  have  been  already  made,  for  the  disciples  are  full  of  con- 
sternation ;  some  are  asserting  their  innocence,  and  Judas  is  challenged  to 
speak  by  St.  Peter.  Leonardo  has  at  once  broken  with  tradition  in  two 
points.  He  takes  Judas  out  of  his  isolation,  placing  him  among  the  rest, 
and  abandons  the  incident  of  St.  John  lying  on  his  Lord's  breast 
(sleeping,  as  was  added  by  a  later  tradition) ;  in  the  modern  way  of  sitting 
this  incident  must  have  always  produced  an  intolerable  effect.  He  thus 
obtained  a  more  perfect  uniformity  of  scene,  and  the  disciples  could  be 
symmetrically  divided  on  each  side  of  the  Master.    The  necessity  for  a 


30  THE   ART   OF   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


The  Last  Supper,  by  Ghirlaiidajo.  | 

I 


tectonic  arrangement  governs  him.  But  he  at  once  goes  further,  and  forms 
two  triad  groups  on  the  right  and  on  the  left.  Thus  Christ  becomes  the 
dominating  central  figure,  differing  from  any  other.  In  Ghirlandajo's 
work  there  is  an  assemblage  without  a  centre,  -a  juxtaposition  of  more 
or  less  independent  half-length  figures,  enframed  between  the  two  great 
horizontal  lines  of  the  table,  and  of  the  wall  at  the  back,  the  cornice  of 
which  is  close  over  their  heads.  Unfortunately  a  corbel  of  the  vaulted 
roof  is  placed  exactly  in  the  middle  of  the  wall.  What  does  Ghirlandajo 
do?  He  moves  his  Christ  quietly  to  one  side,  and  does  not  feel  any 
hesitation  in  doing  so.  Leonardo,  who  considered  it  most  important  to 
bring  out  the  chief  figure  prominently,  would  never  have  tolerated  such  a 
corbel.  On  the  contrary,  he  looks  for  new  aids  to  his  object  in  the  forma- 
tion of  the  background  ;  it  is  not  a  mere  accident  that  his  Christ  is  seated 
exactly  in  the  light  of  the  door  behind.  Then  he  breaks  away  from  the 
tyranny  of  the  two  horizontal  lines.  He  naturally  retains  that  of  the 
table,  but  the  silhouettes  of  the  groups  are  free  above.  Novel  effects  are 
aimed  at.  The  perspective  of  the  room,  the  shape  and  decoration  of  the 
walls,  are  iiiade  to  reinforce  the  effect  of  the  figures.  His  chief  preoccupa- 
tion is  to  make  the  bodies  appear  plastic  and  imposing.    Hence  the  depth 


31 


of  the  room,  and  the  partitioning  of  the  wall  with  tapestried  panels.  The 
intersections  assist  the  plastic  illusion,  and  the  repetition  of  the  vertical 
line  emphasizes  the  divergence  of  direction.  It  will  be  noticed  that  there 
are  nothing  but  small  surfaces  and  lines,  which  in  no  way  seriously  distract 
the  eye  from  the  figures.  A  painter  of  the  older  generation  such  as 
Ghirlandajo,  with  his  background  of  great  arches,  at  once  created  a  standard 
of  proportion  in  his  picture,  measured  by  which  the  figures  necessarily 
appear  insignificant.^  Leonardo,  as  we  have  said,  only  retained  a  single 
great  line,  the  inevitable  line  of  the  table.  And  even  out  of  this  he  made 
something  new.  I  do  not  mean  the  omission  of  the  rectangular  corners, 
in  which  he  had  been  anticipated ;  the  new  point  is  the  courageous  repre- 
sentation of  the  impossible  in  order  to  secure  a  greater  effect ;  Leonardo's 
table  is  far  too  small  !  If  the  covers  are  counted,  we  find  that  the  required 
number  could  not  possibly  be  seated.  Leonardo  wished  to  avoid  the 
dispersal  of  the  disciples  down  the  long  table,  and  the  impressiveness  thus 
given  to  the  figures  has  such  force  that  no  one  notices  the  want  of  room. 
Thus  it  became  possible  to  bring  the  figures  into  compact  groups,  and  keep 
them  in  close  contact  with  the  central  figure. 

And  what  groups  these  are  !  What  action  they  convey  !  The  word  of 
the  Lord  has  struck  like  a  thunderbolt.  A  storm  of  passionate  feeling 
bursts  forth.  The  demeanour  of  the  Disciples  is  not  undignified  ;  they 
bear  themselves  like  men  from  whom  their  most  sacred  possession  is  to  be 
taken  away.  An  immense  fund  of  completely  new  expression  is  here 
added  to  Art,  and  when  Leonardo  works  on  the  same  lines  as  his  prede- 
cessors, it  is  the  unprecedented  intensity  of  expression  which  makes  his 
figures  appear  unrivalled.  When  such  power  is  brought  into  play,  it  is 
obvious  that  many  pleasing  accessories  of  conventional  art  are  necessarily 
omitted.  Ghirlandajo  still  reckons  on  a  public  which  will  thoughtfully 
scrutinize  every  corner  of  a  picture,  and  must  be  gratified  by  rare  garden- 
flowers,  birds,  and  other  living  creatures.  He  devotes  much  care  to  the 
service  of  the  table,  and  counts  out  a  certain  number  of  cherries  to  each 
guest.    Leonardo  restricts  himself  to  bare  essentials.    He  is  entitled  to 

^  The  outer  lines  of  Leonardo's  picture  do  not  correspond  with  the  section  of  the  room  ; 
there  is  a  considerable  space  above  the  upper  edge  of  the  picture.  This  intersection  is  one  of 
the  devices  which  makes  it  possible  to  compose  with  large  figures  in  a  confined  space,  with- 
out a  cramped  effect.  Both  the  representation  of  the  room  and  the  effect  aimed  at  by  this 
motive  were  alien  to  Quattrocento  tradition. 


32  THE   ART   OF   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


expect  that  the  dramatic  interest  of  his  picture  will  prevent  the  spectator 
from  reffrettino'  the  absence  of  such  minor  attractions.  This  tendency  to 
simj)lifv  was  carried  much  farther  at  a  later  date. 

It  is  not  our  present  purpose  to  describe  in  detail  the  figures  according 
to  the  motives,  yet  we  must  notice  the  scheme  observed  in  the  distribution 
of  the  characters. 

The  figures  at  the  edges  are  tranquil.  Two  profiles,  absolutely  vertical, 
enframe  the  whole.  These  reposeful  lines  are  maintained  in  the  second 
group.  Then  there  is  movement,  rising  to  a  mighty  crescendo  in  the 
groups  on  the  right  and  left  of  the  Saviour.  The  figure  on  his  left  hand 
throws  his  arms  out  widely  "  as  if  he  suddenly  saw  an  abyss  opening  before 
him.''  On  the  right,  quite  close  to  the  Saviour,  Judas  recoils  with  an 
abrupt  gesture.^  The  greatest  contrasts  are  juxtaposed.  St.  John  sits  in 
the  same  group  with  Judas. 

The  manner  in  which  the  groups  are  contrasted,  the  relation  they  bear 
to  each  other,  and  their  skilful  connection  in  the  foreground  on  the  one 
side,  and  in  the  background  on  the  other,  offer  matter  for  constant  reflec- 
tion to  every  student,  all  the  more  that  intention  is  so  skilfully  concealed 
by  the  apparent  inevitability  of  the  arrangement.  These  are,  however, 
points  of  secondary  importance  compared  with  the  one  great  effect,  which  is 
reserved  for  the  main  figure.  In  the  midst  of  the  tumult  Christ  sits 
motionless.  His  hands  are  stretched  out  listlessly  with  the  gesture  of  one 
who  has  said  all  that  he  has  to  say.  He  is  not  speaking,  as  He  is  in  every 
earlier  picture  ;  He  does  not  even  look  up,  but  His  silence  is  more  eloquent 
than  words.    It  is  that  terrible  silence,  which  leaves  no  hope. 

In  the  gesture  of  Jesus  and  in  His  form  there  is  that  tranquil  grandeur, 
which  we  term  aristocratic,  in  the  sense  akin  to  the  term  "  noble.''  The 
epithet  does  not  suggest  itself  before  the  work  of  any  Quattrocentist.  We 
should  have  thought  that  Leonardo  had  gone  for  his  model  to  a  different 
class  of  men,  if  we  did  not  know  that  he  himself  created  the  type.  He 
has  here  worked  out  the  best  of  his  own  nature,  and  certainly  this  distinc- 
tiim  is  the  common  property  of  the  Italian  race  of  the  sixteenth  century. 
How  the  Germans  from  Holbein  onwards  have  striven  to  achieve  the  charm 
of  such  a  gesture  ! 

1  Goethe's  mistake,  wliich  has  since  been  repeated,  must  be  corrected.  He  thought 
that  St.  Peter's  movement  was  to  be  explained  by  his  having  struck  Judas  in  the  side  with 
a  knife. 


33 


The  Last  Supper,  from  an  engraving  by  Marc  Antonio. 


It  might,  however,  be  said  again  and  again  that  the  point,  which 
makes  the  Christ  in  this  picture  appear  so  absohitelv  different  from  the 
older  presentations,  is  not  completely  explained  by  His  form  and  mien,  but 
that  the  essential  difference  is  found  rather  in  the  part  assigned  Him  in  the 
composition.  The  unity  of  the  scene  is  lacking  in  the  earlier  painters. 
The  Disciples  are  talking  together,  and  the  Saviour  is  speaking,  and  it  is 
open  to  question  whether  a  distinction  has  always  been  made  between  the 
announcement  of  the  treachery  and  the  institution  of  the  Lord's  Supper. 

In  any  case  it  was  quite  alien  to  the  Quattrocentist  conception  to  make 
the  utterance  of  the  speech  the  motif'  of  the  chief  figure.  Leonardo  was 
the  first  to  venture  to  do  so,  and  by  this  boldness  he  gains  the  boundless 
advantage  that  he  can  now  hold  fast  the  dominant  tone  throughout  an 
infinity  of  supplementary  notes.  That  which  has  caused  the  outbreak  of 
excitement  still  continues  to  ring  in  our  ears.  The  scene  is  at  once 
momentary,  permanent,  and  exhaustive. 

Raphael  is  the  one  master  who  has  grasped  Leonardo's  meaning  here. 

D 


THE   ART   OP   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


There  exists  a  Last  Supper  of  his  school,  which  Marc  Antonio  has 
engraved,  where  Christ  is  depicted  in  a  psychologically  similar  attitude, 
motionless,  gazing  fixedly  before  Him.  With  widely  opened  eyes  He  looks 
into  space.  His  is  the  only  full  face  in  the  picture,  an  absolutely  vertical 
line.^  Andrea  del  Sarto  appears  very  inferior  by  contrast.  In  a  com- 
position of  much  pictorial  beauty  he  chose  the  moment  when  the  traitor 
is  made  known,  by  the  dipping  of  the  sop,  and  thus  depicts  Christ  as 
turning  to  St.  John,  whose  hand  he  takes  soothingly  into  his  own. 
(Florence,  S.  Salvi).  A  beautiful  idea,  but  this  single  trait  destroys  the 
domination  of  the  principal  figure  and  the  unity  of  feeling.  Andrea  may 
have  certainly  said  to  himself  that  it  was  impossible  to  compete  wdth 
Leonardo. 

Others  have  attempted  to  effect  a  new  result  by  the  introduction  of 
the  trivial ;  in  Baroccio's  large  ListHutioii  of  the  LorcVs  Supper  (Urbino) 
some  of  the  Disciples  during  the  speech  of  the  Saviour  are  ordering  a 
servant  in  the  foreground  to  bring  up  fresh  wine,  as  if  there  were  some 
question  of  drinking  a  health. 

There  is  one  last  remark  to  be  made  on  the  relation  of  Leonardo's 
picture  to  the  space  in  which  it  was  painted.  As  is  well  known,  it  forms 
the  decoration  of  the  upper  end  of  a  long  narrow  refectory.  The  room 
is  only  lighted  from  one  side,  and  Leonardo  took  the  existing  light  into 
consideration,  in  determining  the  illumination  of  his  picture,  a  proceeding 
by  no  means  unique.  It  comes  from  high  on  the  left,  and  partially 
illuminates  the  opposite  wall  in  the  picture.  The  differences  of  tone  in 
the  light  and  shade  are  so  marked  that  Ghirlandajo  seems  monotonous 
and  flat  in  comparison.  The  table  cloth  stands  out  clearly,  and  the  heads 
irradiated  with  the  light  are  thrown  into  strong  relief  against  the  dark 
wall.  One  further  result  followed  from  this  acceptance  of  the  actual 
source  of  light.  Judas,  who  no  longer  sits  apart  as  in  earlier  pictures,  but 
is  introduced  among  the  rest  of  the  Disciples,  is  nevertheless  isolated.  He 
is  the  only  one  who  sits  quite  with  his  back  to  the  light,  and  whose 
features  are  therefore  in  shadow.  A  simple  but  effective  means  of  cha- 
racterisation, M'hich  the  young  Rubens  perhaps  bore  in  mind,  when  he 
painted  his  Last  Supper^  now  in  the  Brera. 

^  The  pen  and  ink  drawing  in  tlie  Albertina  (Fischel,  RaffaeVs  Zeichnungen,  387)  which 
is  now  correctly  ascribed  to  Giov.  F.  Penni,  cannot  be  accepted  as  the  drawing  made  for 
Marc  Antonio's  engraving  ;  it  is  quite  different  in  composition. 


35 


2.    The  Moxxa  Lisa 

The  Quattrocentists  had  ah-eadv  attempted  at  various  times  to 
beyond  the  mere  drawing  of  a  model  in  a  portrait,  they  had  attempted 
to  present  something  more  than  the  sum  of  separate  features  which  make 
up  hkeness,  to  show  more  than  the  permanent  fixed  forms  which  stamp  the 
character.     Something  of  the  spirit  of 
the  hour,  some  indication  of  the  passing 
emotion  of  the  soul,  was  to  be  reflected 
on  the  face.     There  are  busts  of  young 
girls  by  Desiderio   which  produce  this 
effect  completely.    They  are  smiling,  and 
the  smile  is  not  stereotyped,  but  seems 
the   reflection    of  the   happy  moment. 
Who  does  not  know  these  young  Floren- 
tines with  laughing  mouths,  and  eyebrows 
uplifted  above  eyes  which  even  in  the 
marble  seem  to  flash  ? 

There  is  a  smile,  too,  on  the  face  of 
Monna  Lisa,  but  only  a  faint  smile  :  ^  it 

rests   in   the   corners   of   the   mouth,   and         Bust  of  a  Florentine  Girl,  by  Desiderio. 

ripples    almost    imperceptibly  over  the 

features.  Like  a  breath  of  wind  which  ruffles  the  water,  a  movement 
passes  over  the  soft  contours  of  this  face.  There  is  a  play  of  lights  and 
shadows,  a  whispered  dialogue,  to  which  we  never  weary  of  listening. 

The  brown  eyes  look  at  us  from  the  narrow  oval  of  the  lids.  They  are 
not  the  flashing  Quattrocentist  eyes ;  their  glance  is  veiled.  The  lower 
lids  run  almost  horizontally  and  recall  the  Gothic  forms  of  eyes,  in  which 
this  motive  is  used  to  produce  the  effect  of  fulness  and  liquidity.  The 
whole  surface  under  the  eyes  speaks  of  an  intense  sensitiveness,  of  delicate 
nerves  beneath  the  skin.  One  striking  trait  is  the  absence  of  eyebrows. 
The  curved  plaiies  of  the  eye-sockets  pass  without  any  sort  of  accentuation 
into  the  excessively  high  forehead.  This  is  no  individual  peculiarity.  It 
can  be  shown  from  a  passage  in  //  Cortlgiano  -  that  it  was  fashionable  for 

^  Politian,  Giostra  I.  50.    "  Lampeggio  d'un  dolce  e  vago  riso." 

-  Baldassare  Castiglione,  /'  Cortigiano  (1516).  It  is  said  there  (in  Bk.  I.)  that  the 
men  copy  the  women  in  plucking  out  the  hairs  of  the  eyebrows  anil  forehead  {jielarsi  le 
ciglia  e  la  f route). 

D  2 


THE   ART   OP   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


ladies  to  pluck  out  their  eyebrows.  It  was  also  considered  a  beauty  to 
show  a  wide  expanse  of  forehead,  and  therefore  the  hair  on  the  front  of 
the  head  was  sacrificed.  This  accounts  for  the  immense  foreheads  in  the 
statues  of  young  girls  by  Mino  and  Desiderio.  The  delight  in  the 
modelling  of  the  white  surfaces,  which  the  chisel  reproduced  so  tenderly 
in  marble,  outweighed  every  other  consideration.  The  natural  divisions 
were  eliminated  and  the  upper  parts  exaggerated  out  of  all  measure.  The 
style  of  the  Monna  Lisa  in  this  respect  is  thoroughly  Quattrocentist.  The 
fashion  changed  innnediately  afterwards.  The  forehead  was  made  lower, 
i\m\  a  distinct  advance  is  noticeable  in  the  rigorously  defined  eye-brows. 
In  the  Madrid  copy  of  the  Monna  Lmi  the  eyebrows  have  been  deliberately 
added.  Even  in  Leonardo's  own  drawings  (for  example  in  the  beautiful 
full-face  with  the  head  inclined  in  the  Uffizi)  they  have  been  inserted  by 
a  later  hand  (cf.  the  illustration  on  p.  27).  The  hair,  chestnut  brown 
like  the  eyes,  falls  along  the  cheeks  in  graceful  waves,  together  with  a 
loose  veil  which  is  thrown  over  the  head. 

The  lady  sits  in  an  arm-chair,  and  it  is  astounding  to  note  the  stiff 
perpendicular  carriage  of  her  head  in  the  midst  of  such  softness  of  exe- 
cution. She  clearly  holds  herself  according  to  the  fashion  of  the  day. 
An  upright  bearing  implied  distinction.  We  notice  this  peculiarity  in  the 
Tornabuoni  ladies  in  Ghirlandajo's  frescoes  :  when  they  pay  visits  they 
sit  bolt  upright.  Popular  opinion  on  this  point  changed,  and  the  altered 
ideas  reacted  directly  on  the  position  of  the  figures  in  portraits. 

For  the  rest,  the  picture  is  not  deficient  in  animation.  Here  Leonardo 
passed  for  the  first  time  from  the  bust  with  its  scanty  segment  of  the  body, 
to  the  three-quarters  length.  He  now  makes  the  model  sit  in  profile,  giving 
a  half-turn  to  the  head  and  shoulders  and  bringing  the  face  full  to  the  front. 
The  action  of  the  arms  is  also  expressive.  The  one  rests  on  the  arm  of 
the  chair,  the  other  comes  foreshortened  from  the  background,  and  one 
hand  is  laid  over  the  other.  Leonardo  does  not  add  the  hands  as  a  mere 
superficial  enrichment  to  the  portrait.  Their  easy  indolence  of  pose  adds 
immensely  to  the  individuality  of  the  sitter.  We  can  trace  the  delicacy 
of  the  sense  of  touch  in  these  truly  soulful  fingers.  Verrocchio  anticipated 
Leonardo  here,  in  introducing  the  hands  even  in  his  busts. 

The  costume  is  fastidiously  simple,  almost  prim.  The  line  of  the 
bodice  nmst  have  seeme  1  hard  to  a  riper  Cinquecentist.  The  pleated  gown 
is  green,  of  that  green  which  Luini  retains  ;  the  sleeves,  a  yellow-brown  ; 


Portrait  of  Monna  Lisa,  by  Leonardo  da  Vinci. 


LEONARDO 


39 


not,  as  formerly,  short  and  narrow,  but  reaching  to  the  wrists,  and 
crumpled  into  many  transverse  folds,  they  form  an  effective  accompani- 
ment to  the  rounded  compact  surfaces  of  the  hands.  The  shapely 
fingers  are  not  burdened  by  any  rings.  The  neck  too  is  without  any 
ornament. 

The  background  consists  of  a  landscape,  as  in  the  works  of  older 
painters.     But  it  is  not,  as  formerly,  immediately  connected  Avith  the 
figure  ;  there  is  a  balustrade  between,  and  the  view  is  enframed  by  two 
pillars.    It  requires  minute  inspection  to  detect  this  motive,  which  is  not 
unimportant  in  its  consequences,  for  the  pillars  have  the  appearance  of  mere 
narrow  stripes,  save  at  the  bases.    The  later  style  was  not  long  content  with 
such  suggestive  drawing.^  The  landscape  itself,  which  stretches  away  towards 
the  top  of  the  picture  above  the  level  of  the  sitter's  eyes,  is  of  a  strange 
kind ;  fantastically  peaked  mountain-labyrinths,  with  lakes  and  streams  in 
the  foreground.    The  strange  result  of  the  shadowy  execution  is,  that  the 
background  has  a  dream-like  effect.    Its  reality  is  of  a  different  degree  to 
that  of  the  figure,  and  this  is  no  caprice,  but  a  means  of  achieving  the 
impression  of  corporeality.     Leonardo  here  applies  certain  theories  as 
to  the  appearance  of  distant  objects,  which  he  has  discussed  in  his  treatise 
on  painting  {Trattato  della  Pittura  No.  128.    201).    The  consequence  is 
that  in  the  Salon  Carre  of  the  Louvre,  where  the  Moiuia  Lisa  hangs,  every- 
thing else,  even  pictures  of  the  seventeenth  century,  seem  flat  by  com- 
parison.   The  gradations  of  colour  in  the  landscape  are  precisely  the  same 
as  in  Perugino's  Apollo  and  Marsyas — brown,  greenish-blue,  and  bluish- 
green  into  which  the  blue  sky  blends. 

Leonardo  called  modelling  the  soul  of  painting.  It  is  before  iYvc  Monna 
Lisa,  if  anywhere,  that  the  meaning  of  this  dictum  may  be  learnt.  The  soft 
undulations  of  the  surface  become  a  living  fact,  as  if  the  observer  himself 
were  gliding  over  them  with  a  spirit-hand.  The  aim  in  view  is  as  yet  not 
simplicity,  but  complexity.  Anyone  who  has  studied  the  picture  repeatedly 
will  agree  that  it  calls  for  close  inspection.  At  a  distance  it  soon  loses  its 
real  effect.  (This  is  true  also  of  photographs.)  It  is  in  this  respect  that  it 
is  principally  to  be  distinguished  from  the  later  portraits  of  the  Cinque- 
cento,  and  in  a  certain  sense  it  represents  the  conclusion  of  a  tendency, 
which  had  its  beginnings  in  the  fifteenth  century,  the  completion  of  that 
"  subtle"'  style,  to  which  the  masters  of  plastic  art  above  all  devoted  their 
^  CJ.  the  sketch  for  the  Maddahna  Doni  by  Raphael  in  the  Louvre. 


40  THE    ART   OF   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


energies.  The  neo-Florentine  school  did  not  sympathise  with  this.  It 
was  onlv  in  Lonibardy  that  its  dehcate  threads  were  gathered  up  and 
continued.^ 

3.  St.  Axxe  with  the  Virgin  and  the  Infant  Christ 

In  comparison  with  the  Monna  Lisa^  Leonardo's  other  picture  in  the 
Salon  Carre,  the  St.  Anne  icith  the  Virgin  and  the  Infant  Christ  fails  to 
attract  the  sympathies  of  the  public.  This  picture,  which  was  perhaps  not 
entirely  the  work  of  Leonardo's  own  hand,  has  deteriorated  in  colour,  and 
the  essential  merit  of  the  draw  ing  is  little  yalued  and  hardly  perceiyed  by 
modern  eyes.  And  yet  in  its  time  (1501)  the  mere  cartoon  caused  great 
excitement  in  Florence,  so  that  there  was  a  general  pilgrimage  to  the 
monastery  of  the  Annunziata,  where  lieonardo's  new  miracle  was  to  be 
seen. 2  The  theme  might  haye  been  barren  enough.  We  remember 
the  chilly  combination  of  the  three  figures  in  the  older  masters, 
one  in  the  lap  of  the  other,  and  all  facing  the  spectator.  Out  of  this 
unattractiye  arrangement  Leonardo  deyeloped  a  group  of  the  richest 
beauty,  and  the  lifeless  framework  was  transformed  into  a  motiye  of  the 
liyeliest  animation. 

Mary  sits  diagonally  on  the  lap  of  her  mother  ;  she  bends  forward 
smilingly  and  with  both  hands  seizes  the  boy  at  their  feet,  who  is  trying  to 
bestride  a  lamb.  The  Child  looks  round  enquiringly ;  He  grasps  the  poor 
shrinking  animal  firmly  by  the  head,  and  has  ah-eady  thrown  one  leg  across 
its  back.  The  (youthful)  grandmother  also  looks  on  smilingly  at  the 
merry  sport. 

The  problems  of  grouping  attacked  in  the  Last  Supper  are  further 
deyeloped  here.  The  composition  is  most  inspiriting ;  much  is  said  in  a 
limited  space  ;  all  the  figures  show  a  contrast  of  moyement  and  the  con- 
flicting directions  are  brought  together  into  a  compact  form.  It  will  be 
noticed  that  the  whole  group  may  be  contained  in  an  equilateral  triangle. 

^  It  lias  been  frequently  felt  that  the  BdU  Ferroniere  (Louvre)  is  not  in  harmony  with 
Leonardo's  work.  This  fine  picture  has  lately,  by  way  of  experiment,  been  ascribed  to 
Boltraffio.  It  may  be  remarked  that  the  figures  of  the  saints  at  the  feet  of  the  Risen  Lord 
in  Berlin  may  belong  to  this  same  Boltrafiio  ;  its  affinity  to  the  Madoima  loith  the  Child,  a 
half  length,  in  the  National  Gallery,  is  obvious.  It  extends  even  to  the  pattern  of  the 
flowered  robe  of  St.  Leonard. 

-  The  cartoon  no  longer  exists.  The  execution  of  the  picture  took  place  much  later. 
Cf.  Gazette  des  Beaux- Arts  1897  (Cook). 


LEONARDO 


41 


This  is  the  first  of  efforts, 
which  have  been  ah-eady 
noticed  in  the  Madonna 
of  the  Rod's,  to  arrange 
the  composition  accord- 
ing to  simple  geometri- 
cal forms.  But  how  loose 
is  the  effect  of  the  older 
work  as  compared  with 
the  compact  richness  of 
the  St.  Anne  group  !  It 
was  no  artistic  caprice 
which  led  Leonardo  to 
pack  more  and  more 
action  into  a  contiiuiallv 
diminishing  space ;  the 
strength  of  the  impres- 
sion increases  in  propor- 
tion. The  only  difficulty 
was  to  prevent  any  injury 
to  the  clarity  and  repose 
of  the  representation. 
This  was  the  stone,  on 
which  the  weaker  imita- 
tors stumbled.  Leonardo 

attained  a  perfect  lucidity,  and  the  chief  motive,  the  inclination  of  Mary's 
body,  is  irresistibly  human  and  beautiful.  All  the  unmeaning  prettiness 
by  which  the  Quattrocento  was  so  often  beguiled,  has  here  melted  away 
before  an  unparalleled  power  of  expression.  It  is  well  to  realise  in  detail 
the  conditions  under  which  the  lines  of  the  shoulder  and  of  the  neck 
are  developed — light  against  dark — in  all  their  marvellous  bloom  and 
brilliance.  How  quiet  and  how  forceful  !  The  reticent  figure  of  Anne 
forms  an  excellent  contrast,  and  at  the  bottom  the  boy  with  his  upturned 
face  and  his  lamb,  rounds  off  the  group  most  happily. 

There  is  a  small  picture  of  Raphael's  in  Madrid  which  reflects  the 
impression  made  by  this  composition.  As  a  young  man  at  Florence  he 
attempted  to  work  out  a  similar  problem — taking  St.  Joseph  in  place 


St.  Anne  with  the  Virgin  and  Infant  Christ, 
by  Leonardo  da  Vinci. 


THE   ART   OF   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


of  St.  Anne — but  with  very  poor  success.  How  wooden  is  the  lamb  ! 
llaphael  never  became  an  animal-painter,  while  Leonardo  succeeded  in 
all  he  attempted.  (In  the  Alha  Madonna  he  afterwards  more  successfully 
adopted  the  motive  of  Leonardo's  Mary  in  the  turn  of  the  head.)  But 
a  stronger  rival  than  Raphael  entered  the  lists  against  Leonardo  in  the 
person  of  Michelangelo.    Of  this  we  shall  speak  later. 

There  are  no  traces  here  of  the  grasses,  the  flowers,  and  the  shimmering 
pools  of  the  Madonna  of  the  HocA:  The  figures  are  everything.  They 
are  life-size.  But  more  important  to  the  impression  than  the  absolute 
scale  of  size,  is  the  relation  of  the  figures  to  the  space.  They  fill  the 
canvas  more  effectually  than  formerly,  or,  to  put  it  differently,  the 
canvas  is  here  smaller  in  proportion  to  the  contents.  This  is  the  scale  of 
dimensions  which  became  typical  of  the  Cinquecento.^ 

4.  The  Baitle  of  Axghiari 

Of  the  battle-scene,  which  was  intended  for  the  Council  Chamber  at 
Florence  we  can  say  but  little,  since  the  composition  no  longer  exists 
even  in  the  cartoon,  but  only  in  an  incomplete  copy  by  a  later  hand. 
It  cannot,  however,  be  passed  over,  for  the  whole  question  of  its  origin 
is  full  of  interest.  Leonardo  had  studied  horses  more  perhaps  than  any 
other  Cinquecentist.  He  was  familiar  Avith  the  animal  from  habitual 
intercourse.-  He  was  occupied  at  Milan  for  years  in  designing  an 
equestrian  statue  of  Duke  Francesco  Sforza,  a  figure  which  was  never 
cast,  though  a  completed  model  of  it  once  existed,  the  disappearance 
of  which  must  be  reckoned  among  the  great  losses  of  art.  As  regards 
the  motive,  he  seems  at  first  to  have  intended  to  surpass  Verrocchio's 
Colleoni  in  movement  :  he  achieved  the  type  of  the  galloping  horse,  Avhich 
has  a  prostrate  foeman  at  its  feet ;  the  same  idea  which  occurred  to 
Antonio  Pollaiuolo.^ 

1  The  impression  made  on  contemporaries  is  clearly  depicted  in  a  report  of  Era  Piero 
di  Novellara  to  the  Marchesa  of  Mantua  dated  April  3,  loOl,  where  he  speaks  thus  of  the 
cartoon  in  this  connection  :  "  These  figures  are  life-size,  but  stand  on  a  small  canvas, 
because  all  are  either  seated  or  bending  forward,  and  one  rather  in  front  of  the  other." 
{Archirio  -sforico  delV  Arte,  1.)  The  London  cartoon  (Royal  Academy)  of  a  group  of  two 
women  with  two  boys  does  not  possess  the  same  charm,  and  might  well  be  a  slightly  earlier 
and  less  limpid  composition.  It  plays  its  part  again  in  Leonardo's  school.  (Luini, 
Ambrosiana.) 

-  Vasari,  IV.  21.  3  Vasari,  III.  297.    Cf.  drawing  in  Munich. 


LEONARDO 


43 


The  misgiving,  which  has  been  expressed  now  and  again,  that 
Leonardo's  figure  might  have  become  too  pictorial,  can,  if  it  is  at  all 
justified,  only  refer  to  sketches  of  this  kind  :  in  any  case  his  idea  of  the 
prancing  horse  cannot  be  looked  upon  as  definitive  :  on  the  contrary  in 
the  course  of  the  work  a  gradual  advance  towards  repose  and  simplicity 
seems  to  have  taken  place  similar  to  that  which  may  be  observed  in 
the  sketches  for  the  Lad  Supper.  Leonardo  ended  by  representing  the 
horse  stepping  forward,  and  thus  modifying  the  marked  opposition  of 
direction  in  the  turn  of  the  head  of  horse  and  rider.  We  still  find  the 
arm  with  the  baton  somewhat  bent  backwards,  by  which  contrivance 
Leonardo  wished  to  enrich  the  silhouette,  and  to  fill  up  the  empty  right 
hand  corner  at  the  back  of  the  rider. ^ 

A  sketch  in  the  Louvre,  ascribed  to  Rubens,  is  the  only  original 
document  from  which  we  may  gather  a  true  notion  of  that  great  battle- 
picture  of  the  Florentine  Council  Chamber,  in  w^hich  Leonardo  turned 
his  Milanese  studies  to  account.  As  is  well  known,  Edelingk  engraved  an 
excellent  plate  from  it.'^  It  is  hard  to  say  how  far  the  drawing  may  be 
considered  trustworthy  in  detail,  but  it  corresponds  in  essentials  to  the 
description  Vasari  gives  of  it. 

Leonardo  intended  once  for  all  to  show  the  Florentines  how  to  draw 
horses.  He  took  a  cavalry  episode  as  the  chief  motive  of  his  battle-piece  : 
the  Fight  for  the  Standard.  Four  horses  and  four  riders  in  the  most 
violent  excitement  and  the  closest  juxtaposition.  The  problem  of  plastic 
richness  of  grouping  has  here  reached  a  height  which  almost  verges  on 
indistinctness.  The  northern  engraver's  interpretation  of  the  picture  from 
the  pictorial  side,  is  that  a  border  of  lights  would  have  surrounded  a  dark 
central  passage,  an  arrangement  with  which  we  may  certainly  credit 
Leonardo  in  the  first  instance. 

The  representation  of  crowded  masses  was  then  the  real  "  modern 
task.    It  is  surprising  that  battle-pictures  are  not  more  often  met  with. 
The  school  of  Raphael  is  the  only  one  which  produced  a  large  work  of  the 

1  The  results  of  the  latest  researches  connected  with  the  Milanese  monument,  and  with 
a  later  mounted  figure  with  a  tomb  beneath,  for  General  Trivulzio,  are  recorded  by  Miiller- 
Walde  in  the  Jahrhuch  der  Preiissisrhen  Kumtsammlungen ,  1897. 

-  I  do  not  venture  to  give  an  opinion  as  to  Rubens'  authorship  of  the  drawing  in  the 
Louvre.  Rooses  emphatically  supports  it.  In  any  case  Rubens  was  familiar  with  the 
composition.    His  Lion  Hunt  at  Munich  clearly  proves  this. 


44  THE   ART   OF   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


sort,  and  the  Battle  of  Constantine  represents  the  one  classical  battle- 
piece  in  the  conception  of  the  West.  Art  has  advanced  from  the  mere 
episode  to  the  representation  of  real  masses  in  action,  but  if  the  famous 
picture  bv  this  means  shows  far  more  than  Leonardo  did,  it  is  on  the  other 
hand  so  fettered  bv  indistinctness  of  conception  that  the  coarsening  of 
taste  and  the  decay  of  art  are  already  apparent.  Raphael  had  certainly 
nothing  to  do  with  this  composition. 

Leonardo  left  no  school  behind  in  Florence.  All  indeed,  learnt  from 
him,  but  his  influence  was  dimmed  by  that  of  Michelangelo.  It  is  obvious 
that  Leonardo  developed  the  idea  of  large  figures  ;  the  figure  finally 
became  all  in  all  for  him.  Nevertheless  Florence  would  have  had  a 
different  physiognomy,  had  she  been  more  Leonardesque.  The  traces  of 
Leonardo  that  survive  in  Andrea  del  Sarto  or  in  Franciabigio  and 
Bugiardini  signify  on  the  whole  very  little.  A  direct  continuation  of  his 
art  is  only  found  in  Lombardy,  and  even  here  it  is  a  partial  one.  The 
Lombards  are  artistically  gifted,  but  they  are  entirely  wanting  in  a  sense 
of  the  architectonic.  Not  one  of  them  ever  understood  the  structure  of 
the  Last  Supper.  Leonardo's  grouping  and  his  crowded  movement  were 
unfamiliar  problems  to  them.  The  more  vivacious  temperaments  among 
the  Milanese  became  confused  and  wild  when  they  attempted  movement ; 
the  others  are  wearisome  in  their  uniformity.  It  is  typical  of  the  art  of 
the  Milanese  that  they  could  treat  the  Beheading  of  John  the  Baptist  as 
still-life ;  placing  the  severed  head  neatly  on  an  agate-dish.  (Picture  by 
Solario  in  the  Louvre,  1507.)  This  would  have  been  inconceivable  in 
Florence.  And  equally  so  the  crudeness  with  which  in  another  case  a 
naked  arm  without  any  figure  belonging  to  it  protrudes  from  behind  the 
frame  to  present  the  severed  head  to  Salome.  This  was  done  by  Luini 
(Milan,  Borromeo).  In  such  districts  the  soil  is  not  favourable  to  great  art. 
What  the  Lombards  assimilated  was  the  feminine  side  of  Leonardo's  art,  the 
passive  emotions,  and  the  delicately  suggested  modelling  of  youthful  forms, 
especially  female  forms.  Leonardo  was  highly  susceptible  to  the  beauty 
of  the  female  form.  He  it  was  who  first  perceived  the  softness  of  the  skin. 
It  is  therefore  surprising  that  the  nude  is  not  more  frequent  in  his 
pictures.  The  femininely  delicate  *S'^.  John  in  the  Louvre  (the  authenticity 
of  which  indeed  is  not  beyond  suspicion),  is  not  a  favourite ;  most  people 
will  feel  a  desire  for  less  ambioruous  female  forms.  The  Leda  with  the 
swan  would  have  been  the  ideal  picture.    It  is  only  known  from  drawings 


LEONARDO 


45 


and  imitations,  in  the  two  versions,  standing  and  crouching.  (Cf.  Jahrhuch 
der  Preussischen  Kunstsammlungen.  189)  (Miiller-Walde).  In  both  the 
action  is  of  consummate  interest.  The  Lombard  followers  however 
studied  onlv  the  treatment  of  the  surfaces,  and  were  quite  content  with  the 
half-length  figure  as  a  design.    Even  the  subject  of  Susanna  at  the  Bath, 


Abundantia,  hy  Gianpietrino. 


where  if  anvwhere  a  richly  modelled  figure  might  reasonably  be  expected, 
is  restricted  to  this  barren  design.  (Picture  by  Luini  in  Milan,  Borromeo.) 
The  unpretentious  half-length  Ahundantia  by  Gianpietrino  may  be  given 
here  as  a  type  of  such  Avorks.^ 

^  The  picture  is  in  tlie  Borromeo  Gallery  in  Milan.  It  should  be  compared  with 
Leonardo's  Monna  Lisa.  Cf.  also  the  rough  life-study  in  the  8t.  Petersburg  Gallery,  which 
shows  a  model  in  the  attitude  of  the  Monim  Lisa,  but  with  none  of  Leonardo's  art.  "  It  is 
inconceivable  how  Waagen  could  have  taken  this  miserable  pasticcio  for  a  study  of 
Leonardo's."    F.  Harck,  Hepertcrimn  XIX.  421. 


Ill 


MICHELANGELO  (to  1520) 
1475—1564 

Michelangelo  overwhelmed  Italian  art  like  a  mighty  mountain-torrent, 
at  once  fertilising  and  destructive  ;  irresistible  in  impression,  carrying 
everything  away  with  him,  he  became  a  liberator  to  few,  a  destroyer  to 
many.  From  the  first  moment  Michelangelo  was  a  complete  personality, 
almost  terrible  in  his  isolation.  His  conception  of  the  world  was  that  of 
a  sculptor,  and  of  a  sculptor  alone.  What  interested  him  was  the  definite 
form,  and  the  human  body  alone  seemed  to  him  worthy  of  representa- 
tion. The  complexity  of  things  did  not  exist  for  him.  His  humanity  was 
not  the  humanity  of  this  world  differentiated  in  thousands  of  individuals, 
but  a  race  in  itself,  a  genus  that  approached  the  gigantic. 

In  contrast  to  Leonardo's  joyousness,  Michelangelo  stands  before  us  as 
the  lonely  figure,  the  scorner  to  whom  the  world  as  it  is  offers  nothing. 
Once  indeed  he  drew  an  Eve,  a  woman  in  all  the  superb  beauty  of 
luxuriant  nature.  For  a  moment  he  retained  the  image  of  indolent  soft 
loveliness,  but  only  for  a  moment  ;  consciously  or  unconsciously,  all  that 
he  created  was  steeped  in  bitterness. 

His  style  aims  at  concentration,  at  massive  concentrated  effects.  The 
widely  comprehensive,  undefined  outline  repelled  him.  The  condensed 
method  of  arrangement,  restraint  in  demeanour,  were  the  outcome  of 
temperament  with  him. 

The  vigour  of  his  grasp  of  form  and  the  clearness  of  his  inward  con- 
ception are  absolutely  incomparable.  There  is  no  groping,  no  uncer- 
tainty ;  with  the  first  stroke  he  gives  the  definite  expression.  Sketches  by 
him  have  a  strangely  penetrating  power.  They  are  impregnated  with 
form ;  every  trace  of  the  inner  structure,  the  mechanism  of  movement. 


MICHELANGELO 


47 


seems  to  have  been  trans- 
muted into  expression. 
Thus  he  forces  the  spec- 
tator to  share  directly  in 
his  feelings. 

And  it  is  marvellous 
how  every  turn,  every 
bend  of  the  limbs  has  a 
mysterious  power.  Very 
trifling  changes  of  posi- 
tion work  with  incon- 
ceivable force,  and  the 
impression  is  often  so 
great  that  we  do  not 
inquire  into  the  motives 
of  the  action.  It  is  a 
characteristic  of  Michel- 
angelo that  he  strains  his 
means  remorselessly  to 
secure  the  greatest  pos- 
sible results.  He  enriched 
Art  with  unsuspected 
new  effects,  but  he  also 

impoverished  her,  by  taking  from  her  her  pleasure  in  the  simplicity  of 


Pieta,  by  Michelangelo. 


everyday  life.    It  is  throuo;h  him  that  the  unharmonious  found  its 


way 


into  the  Renaissance.  By  his  conscious  employment  of  dissonance  on  a 
large  scale,  he  prepared  the  ground  for  a  new  style,  the  baroque.  We 
shall  not  discuss  this  till  later.  The  works  of  the  first  half  of  his  life  (to 
1520)  speak  another  language. 


1.  Eauly  Works 

The  Pieta  is  the  first  great  work  from  which  we  can  judge  Michel- 
angelo's aims.  It  is  at  present  most  barbarously  placed  in  a  chapel  of 
St.  Peter's,  where  neither  the  delicacy  of  the  details,  nor  the  charm  of 
the  action  can  be  felt.  The  group  is  lost  in  the  vast  space,  and  is 
raised  so  high  that  it  is  impossible  to  get  the  chief  point  of  view. 


48  THE   ART   OF   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


To  combine  into  a  group  two 
life-sized  bodies  in  marble  was  some- 
thing new  in  itself,  and  the  task  of 
placing  the  body  of  a  full  grown 
man  on  the  lap  of  the  seated  woman, 
was  one  of  the  most  difficult  ima- 
ginable. We  might  expect  a  hard 
horizontal  line  of  intersection,  and 
harsh  right  angles ;  Michelangelo 
accomplished  what  no  other  artist 
then  living  could  have  done. 

By  a  series  of  wonderful  bends 
and  turns,  the  lines  of  the  bodies 
are  brought  into  an  easy  harmony. 
Mary  supports,  and  yet  is  not 
crushed  by,  the  burden  ;  the  corpse 
stands  out  clearly  on  all  sides  and 
is  also  full  of  expression  in  every 
line.  The  contraction  of  the 
shoulders  and  the  backward  droop 
of  the  head  give  an  accent  of  agonv 
of  incomparable  force  to  the  dead 
figure.  The  Virgin's  attitude  is  still 
more  surprising.  The  tearful  count- 
enance, the  distortion  of  sorrow,  the 
fainting  form,  had  been  portrayed 
bv  others.  Michelangelo  says  :  the 
Mother  of  God  shall  not  weep  like 
an  earthly  woman.  She  bends  her  head  calmlv ;  the  features  betray 
no  emotion  and  only  the  drooping  left  hand  is  eloquent  :  half-opened, 
it  accentuates  the  mute  monologue  of  pain. 

This  is  the  sentiment  of  the  Cinquecento.  Even  the  Christ  shows 
none  of  the  disfigurement  of  suffering.  On  the  formal  side  the  traces  of 
Florence  and  the  style  of  the  fifteenth  century  are  more  obvious.  The 
head  of  Mary  is,  indeed,  like  no  other,  but  it  is  of  the  delicate  narrow 
type,  preferred  bv  the  older  Florentines.    The  bodies  are  in  a  similar 


The  Madonna  of  Brviges,  by  ]Michelangelo. 


style. 


Michelangelo  soon  afterwards  becomes  broader  and  fuller,  and  even 


MICHELANGELO 


49 


the  actual  grouping  of  these  figures, 
would  have  afterwards  seemed  to 
him  too  slight,  too  transparent,  too 
loose.  The  corpse,  more  heavily 
modelled,  would  have  been  a  greater 
burden,  the  lines  would  not  have 
diverged  so  widely,  and  the  two 
figures  would  have  been  combined 
into  a  more  compact  mass. 

A  somewhat  obtrusive  richness 
prevails  in  the  draperies.  There 
are  bright  ridges  of  folds,  and  deep 
shadowy  hollows,  which  the  sculp- 
tors of  the  Cinquecento  gladly  took 
as  models.  The  marble,  as  later 
also,  is  highly  polished,  producing 
intensely  brilliant  lights.  There  is, 
on  the  other  hand,  no  longer  any 
trace  of  gilding. 

Closely  connected  with  the  Pieta 
is  the  seated  figure  of  the  Madumui 
of  Bruges^  a  work  which  went  out 
of  the  country  immediately  after  its 
completion,  and  therefore  left  no 
marked  traces  in  Italy,  although  the 
completely  new  problem  treated  in 
it  would  have  made  the  greatest 
impression. 

The  seated  ]\Iadonna  with  the  Child,  the  endlessly  varied  theme  of  the 
altar-picture,  is  rarely  found  among  the  Florentines  as  a  plastic  group. 
It  is  more  frequent  in  clay  than  in  marble,  and  the  material,  unattractive 
in  itself,  was  usually  elaborately  painted.  But  with  the  sixteenth  century 
the  use  of  clay  became  less  popular.  Increased  pretensions  to  monu- 
mentality  could  only  be  satisfied  in  stone,  and  when  clay  was  still  used, 
as  in  Lombardy,  it  was  left  uncoloured  by  preference. 

^  The  figure  shows  in  subordinate  parts  a  second  weaker  hand.  Michelangelo  seems 
to  have  left  it  behind  unfinished  on  his  second  journey  to  Rome  in  1505. 


Madonna  and  Child,  by  Benedetto  da  Majano. 


50  THE   ART   OF   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


Michelangelo  at  once 
diverges  from  all  the 
older  representations  by 
taking  the  Child  out  of 
the  Mother's  lap  and 
placing  Him,  a  figure  of 
considerable  size  and 
strength,  between  her 
knees,  clambering  about. 
He  was  enabled  by  this 
motive  of  the  Child, 
standing  upright  and 
moving,  to  give  new  in- 
terest to  the  group,  and 
as  a  direct  consequence, 
the  variety  of  effect  was 
also  enhanced  by  the  un- 
equal level  of  the  feet  of 
the  sitting  figure. 

The  Boy  is  occupied 
with  a  child-like  game,  but  He  is  serious,  far  more  serious  than  He 
had  been  even  when  He  was  in  act  of  blessing.  Similarly,  the  Madonna 
is  thoughtful,  mute ;  none  would  venture  to  address  her.  A  grave, 
almost  solenm  earnestness  broods  over  them  both.  This  manifestation 
of  a  new  awe  and  reverence  for  sacred  things  must  be  compared  with 
figures  so  fully  expressive  of  Quattrocento  sentiment  as  the  terra 
cotta  group  by  Benedetto  da  Majano  in  the  Berlin  Museum.  We 
feel  convinced  that  we  have  already  seen  this  worthy  dame  somewhere, 
good  naturedly  managing  her  household,  and  the  Child  is  a  merry 
little  urchin.  He  certainly  lifts  His  hand  to  bless,  but  there  is  no 
need  to  take  the  matter  seriously.  The  mirthfulness  which  lights 
up  the  faces  and  smiles  from  the  speaking  eyes  is  quite  quenched 
in  Michelangelo's  figures.  The  head  of  his  Virgin  is  as  little  sug- 
gestive of  a  middle-class  woman  as  is  her  dress  of  worldly  pomp  and 
magnificence. 

The  spirit  of  a  new  art  sounds  strongly  and  audibly,  with  long  drawn 
chords,  in  the  Madonna  of  Bruges.    Indeed  it  may  be  said  that  the 


Madonna  with  the  Book.    ReHef  by  Michelangelo. 


MICHELANGELO 


51 


Holy  Family,  by  Michelangelo. 


vertical  pose  of  the  head  alone  is  a  motive  which  in  its  grandeur  trans- 
cends any  product  of  the  Quattrocento. 

In  one  very  early  work,  the  small  relief  with  the  Madonna  on  the 
Steps,  Michelangelo  had  tried  to  realise  a  similar  conception.  He  wished 
to  represent  the  Madonna  gazing  into  vacancy  with  the  Child  asleep 
against  her  breast.  His  absolutely  unconventional  purpose  is  apparent 
in  the  still  timid  sketch.  Now,  in  full  possession  of  the  required  expression 
he  once  more  reverts  to  the  motive  in  a  relief,  the  unfinished  tondo  in  the 
Bargello ;  the  Child,  tired  and  serious,  resting  on  the  Mother,  and  Mary, 
like  a  prophetess,  gazing  out  of  the  composition,  upright  and  full-faced. 
The  relief  is  noteworthy  also  from  another  aspect.  A  new  ideal  of  the 
female  form  is  evolved,  a  more  forceful  type,  which  entirely  abandons  the 
early  Florentine  delicacy.  Large  eyes,  full  cheeks,  a  strong  chin.  New 
motives  in  the  drapery  enforce  the  impression.  The  neck  is  exposed,  and 
the  important  tectonic  attachments  are  emphasised.  The  impression  of  force- 
fulness  is  supported  by  a  new  way  of  filling  the  space,  with  the  figures 
touching  the  frame.  No  longer  the  flickering  profusion  of  an  Antonio 
Rossellino,  with  its  unceasing  undulation  of  light  and  shade,  from  the 

E  2 


52  THE   ART   OP   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


great  projections  down  to  the  last  ripples  of  the  surface,  but  a  few 
impressive  accents.  Once  more  the  strict  vertical  of  the  head  strikes  as 
it  were  the  keynote  of  the  whole. 

The  Florentine  tablet  has  a  pendant  in  London,  a  scene  of  the  most 
charming  invention  and  of  a  perfected  beauty  which  only  flashes  forth 
momentarily  in  Michelangelo  in  exceptional  cases. 

How  strange  in  comparison  is  the  joyless  Holy  Family  of  the 
Tribuna,  and  how  strongly  opposed  to  the  long  series  of  Quattrocento 
Holy  Families.  The  Madonna  is  a  masculine  woman  with  mighty  bones, 
her  arms  and  feet  bare.  Her  legs  bent  under  her,  she  crouches  on  the 
ground  and  reaches  over  her  shoulder  for  the  Child,  whom  Joseph,  seated 
in  the  background,  hands  to  her.  A  tangle  of  figures,  curiously  crowded 
in  action.  This  is  neither  the  maternal  Mary  (this  is  indeed  never  found 
in  ■Michelangelo's  work),  nor  the  solemn  Virgin,  but  merely  the  heroine.  The 
contradiction  to  the  treatment  demanded  by  the  subject  is  too  marked  for 
the  observer  not  at  once  to  notice  that  the  artist  here  aimed  at  the  mere 
representation  of  an  interesting  motif,  and  at  the  solution  of  a  definite 
problem  of  composition.  The  picture  was  painted  to  order  ;  there  may 
be  some  truth  in  Vasari's  anecdote  that  xVngelo  Doni,  who  gave  the  com- 
mission, made  some  difficulties  about  accepting  it.  In  his  portrait 
by  Raphael  he  looks  as  if  he  would  not  have  been  easily  attracted  by 
the  ideal  "  Tart  pour  Tart."' 

The  artistic  problem  was  clearly  this :  how  is  it  possible  to  express 
the  greatest  amount  of  action  in  a  very  limited  space  ?  The  real  value 
of  the  picture  lies  in  its  concentrated  plastic  richness.  It  is  perhaps  to  be 
regarded  as  a  sort  of  competitive  work,  with  which  Leonardo  was  to  be 
surpassed.  It  belonged  to  the  period  when  Leonardo's  cartoon  of  St.  Anne 
with  the  Virgin  and  Child  caused  a  sensation  by  the  concentration  of  the 
figures  in  a  new  style.  Michelangelo  puts  Joseph  in  the  place  of  St.  Anne  ; 
in  other  respects  the  task  is  similar ;  two  adults  and  a  child  were  to  be 
brought  into  as  close  a  juxtaposition  as  possible,  without  confusion  and 
without  a  cramped  effect.  Certainly  Michelangelo  excelled  Leonardo  in 
wealth  of  axis,  but  at  what  a  cost  !  The  outlines  and  modelling  are  of  a 
metallic  accuracy.  It  is  in  fact  no  picture,  but  a  painted  relief.  The 
strength  of  the  Florentines  lay  at  all  times  in  plastic  presentment ;  they 
were  a  race  of  sculptors,  not  of  painters,  but  here  the  national  talent  rises 
to  a  height  which  discloses  quite  new  ideas  as  to  the  province  of  ''good 


MICHELANGELO 


53 


drawing."  Even  Leonardo  has  nothing  which  admits  of  comparison  with 
the  Virgin's  outstretched  arm.  All  is  astonishingly  life-like  and  significant, 
every  joint  and  every  muscle.  It  was  to  some  purpose  that  the  arm  was 
bared  up  to  the  shoulder. 

The  impression  made  by  this  painting  with  its  sharply  defined  contours 
and  bright  shadows  did  not  die  away  in  Florence.  Again  and  again  in 
this  land  of  drawing  the  opposition  to  the  obscurantists  in  painting  crops 
up,  and  Bronzino  and  Vasari,  for  example,  are  in  this  respect,  the  direct 
successors  of  Michelangelo,  although  neither  even  remotely  attained  the 
expressive  strength  of  his  modelling.  From  the  Pietci  and  the  seated  Madonna 
of  Bruges^  the  Madonna  reliefs  and  the  tondo  of  the  Holy  Family,  we 
look  round  with  eager  anticipation  for  those  works  of  ^Michelangelo's  youth, 
in  which  he  must  have  displayed  his  personality  most  distinctly,  i.c.^  nude 
male  figures.  He  had  commenced  with  a  gigantic  nude  Hercules  which 
has  not  come  down  to  us  ;  then,  he  executed  in  Rome  at  the  same  time  as 
the  Pieta  a  drunken  Bacchus  (the  figure  in  the  Bargello),  and  soon  after- 
wards the  work  which  outshines  all  in  fame,  the  Florentine  David. ^ 

^  The  Giovannino  of  the  Berlin  Museum,  which  is  there  ascribed  to  Michelangelo  ancl 
is  assigned  a  date  about  1495,  i.e.  earlier  than  the  Bacchus,  cannot  be  passed  over  here 
entirely  in  silence,  but  I  do  not  wish  to  repeat  what  I  have  already  said  elsewhere  about 
this  figure,  which  I  cannot  associate  with  Michelangelo  nor  indeed  with  the  Quattrocento 
at  all.  (Cf.  Wolfflin,  Die  JiKjendwerke  des  Michelangelo,  1891.)  The  excessively  artificial 
motif  and  the  general  smoothness  of  the  treatment  point  to  an  advanced  period  of  the 
sixteenth  century.  The  treatment  of  the  joints  and  drawing  of  tlie  muscles  are  derived  from 
the  school  of  Michelangelo,  but  not  that  of  his  youth  :  the  motive  with  the  freely  over- 
stretched arm  would  have  been  hardly  possible  even  to  the  master  himself  before  1520,  and 
the  soft  modelling,  which  does  not  admit  of  the  indication  of  a  rib  or  the  fold  of  skin  in 
the  armpits,  would  find  no  analogy  among  the  most  effeminate  of  the  Quattrocentists. 
But  who  then  was  the  author  of  this  puzzling  figure  ?  It  must  have  been  a  man  who 
perished  young  it  has  been  said,  otherwise  it  would  have  been  impossible  for  us  to  know 
nothing  more  of  him.  I  believe  that  he  must  be  looked  for  in  the  person  of  the  Neapolitan 
Girolamo  Santacroce  (l)orn  c.  1502,  died  1537),  whose  life  is  to  be  found  in  Vasari.  (Cf. 
de  Domenici,  Vitedei  Pittori,  Scultori,  ed  Architetti  Xapolitani,  II,  1843.)  He  died  early 
and  was  spoilt  still  earlier,  sinking  in  the  waters  of  Mannerism.  His  coming  mannerism  is 
unmistakeable  even  in  the  Giovannino.  He  was  called  the  second  Michelangelo,  and  the 
greatest  hopes  were  entertained  of  him,  A  work,  closely  akin  to  tlie  Giovannino,  is  the 
splendid  Altar  of  the  Pezzo  family  (1524)  in  Montoliveto  at  Naples,  by  which  the 
remarkable  ability  of  the  precocious  artist  may  be  thoroughly  judged.  It  stands  near  a 
similar  design  of  Giovanni  da  Nola's,  who  is  usually  called  the  representative  of  Neapolitan 
plastic  art  in  the  Cinquecento,  but  is  much  less  important.  How  little  the  relation  of  these 
works  in  Naples  is  understood  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  the  scanty  and  inappropriate 
mention  made  of  them  by  Jacob  Burckhardt  has  stood  unaltered  from  the  first  to  the 
last  edition  of  the  Cicerone. 


THE   ART   OP   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


David,  by  Michelangelo, 


stagger 


Michelangelo 


In  the  Bacchus  and  the  David 
is  to  be  recognised  the  concluding 
expression  of  Florentine  Naturalism 
in  the  sense  of  the  fifteenth  century. 
It  was  a  thought  quite  in  the  spirit  of 
Donatello  to  represent  the  drunken 
suggested  in  the  Bacchus. 
seizes  the  moment 
when  his  toper,  no  longer  quite 
secure  on  his  feet,  blinks  at  the  full 
cup  which  he  raises  aloft,  and  is 
obliged  to  look  to  a  small  com- 
panion for  support.  He  chose  for 
his  model  a  plump  young  fellow  and 
completed  the  body  with  intense 
pleasure  in  the  individual  form  and 
the  effeminately  tender  structure. 
He  never  again  experienced  this 
pleasure.  Both  motive  and  treat- 
ment are  here  pronouncedly  Quattro- 
centistic.  This  Bacchus  is  not  an 
amusing  figure  ;  it  will  move  no  one 
to  lauffhter ;  but  still  there  lurks 
a  trace  of  youthful  humour  in  it, 
so  far  as  Michelangelo  ever  could 
be  young. 

The  David  is  still  more  striking 
from  the  harshness  of  the  figure.  A 
David  ought  to  be  the  likeness  of  a  handsome  and  youthful  victor.  Dona- 
tello thus  portrayed  him  as  a  stalwart  boy  ;  thus  too,  in  a  different 
taste,  Verrocchio  represented  him  as  a  slim  angular  youth.  What  does 
Michelangelo  put  forth  as  his  ideal  of  youthful  beauty  ?  A  gigantic 
hobbledehoy,  no  longer  a  boy  and  not  yet  a  man,  at  the  age  when  the  body 
stretches,  when  the  size  of  the  limbs  does  not  appear  to  match  the 


enormous  hands  and  feet, 
completely  satisfied  for  once 


Michelano-elo's  sense  of  realism  must  have  been 


He  shrank  from  no  consequences,  he  even 
ventured  to  enlarge  the  uncouth  model  into  the  colossal.    Then  we  have 


MICHELANGELO 


55 


the  unpleasant  attitude,*hard  and 
angular,  and  the  hideous  triangle 
between  the  legs.  Not  a  single  con- 
cession has  been  made  to  the  line 
of  beauty.  The  figure  shows  a  re- 
production of  nature,  which  on  this 
scale  approaches  the  marvellous.  It 
is  astonishing  in  every  detail,  and 
causes  renewed  surprise  from  the 
elasticity  of  the  body  as  a  whole, 
but,  frankly  speaking,  it  is  abso- 
lutely ugly.^ 

In  this  connection  it  is  note- 
worthy that  the  David  has  become 
the  most  popular  piece  of  sculpture 
in  Florence.  There  exists  in  the 
Florentines  together  with  the  speci- 
fically Tuscan  grace, — which  is  some- 
thing distinct  from  the  Roman 
dignity — a  feeling  for  expressive 
ugliness,  which  did  not  die  out  with 
the  Quattrocento.  When  some  time 
ago  the  David  was  removed  from 
its  public  position  near  the  Palazzo 
Vecchio  into  the  shelter  of  a  closed 
Museum,  it  was  found  necessary  to  Michelangelo, 
let  the  people  have  a  view  of  their 

"  Giant,"  if  only  in  a  bronze  cast.  It  was  then  indeed  that  the  au- 
thorities decided  on  an  unfortunate  manner  of  exhibiting  it,  which  is 
illustrative  of  the  modern  Avant  of  taste.  The  bronze  figure  has  been 
erected  in  the  centre  of  a  large  open  terrace,  where  the  most  monstrous 
aspects  have  to  be  endured  before  any  sight  of  the  man  can  be  obtained. 
The  question  of  position  was  discussed  in  its  day,  immediately  after  the 
completion  of  the  figure,  by  an  assembly  of  artists,  and  the  minutes  of 

^  For  an  explanation  of  the  motive,  cf.  Symonds,  Life  of  Mkhdangelo  Buonarroti, 
I.  99.  According  to  him  David  is  holding  in  his  right  hand  the  wooden  handle  of  a  sling, 
the  bag  of  which  (Symonds  says,  "  centre,")  lies  with  the  stone  in  the  left  hand. 


56 


THE   ART   OF   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


the  meeting  are  still  extant  ;  everyone  then  held  that  the  work  should  be 
placed  in  some  recess,  either  in  an  arcade  of  the  Loggia  dei  Lanzi  or  in 
front  of  the  walls  of  the  Palace  of  the  Signoria.  The  figure  requires  this, 
for  it  is  flat  in  workmanship,  and  is  not  intended  to  be  looked  at  from  all 
sides.  The  main  result  of  its  present  central  position  is  that  its  ugliness 
has  been  intensified. 

What  indeed  was  ^Michelangelo's  own  later  opinion  of  his  David  ? 
Apart  from  the  fact  that  such  a  careful  study  from  the  model  became 
absolutely  contrary  to  his  ideas,  he  would  also  have  felt  the  motive  to  be 
too  barren.  We  may  perceive  his  matured  idea  of  the  excellence  of  a 
statue,  if  we  examine  the  so-called  Apollo  of  the  Bargello,  which  was 
finished  twenty-five  years  after  the  David.  It  is  a  youth  about  to  draw 
an  arrow  from  the  quiver.  Simple  in  its  detail,  the  figure  is  infinitely 
rich  in  action.  It  shows  no  especial  expenditure  of  force,  no  prominent 
gestures.  The  body  as  a  bulk  is  closely  compacted.  There  is  however 
such  an  impression  of  depth,  such  animation  and  movement  in  the  back 
planes  that  the  David  appears  poor  in  comparison,  a  mere  panel.  The 
same  holds  good  of  the  Bacclius.  The  flat  expansion  of  the  surface,  the 
projection  of  the  limbs,  the  perforation  of  the  marble  block,  are  merely 
Michelangelo's  youthful  mannerisms.  He  afterwards  looked  to  compact- 
ness and  restraint  for  effect.  He  must  certainly  have  soon  perceived  the 
value  of  such  treatment,  for  it  is  conspicuous  in  the  flgure  of  St.  Maitliew 
the  Evaii^rlist  (Florence,  courtyard  of  the  Accademia),  which  was  designed 
immediately  after  the  David.'^ 

Nude  forms  and  movement — these  were  the  objective  of  Michelangelo's 
art.  He  had  commenced  with  them  when  as  a  mere  boy  he  chiselled  the 
Battle  of  the  Centaurs.  On  reaching  man's  estate  he  repeated  his  task  and 
performed  it  so  excellently  that  a  whole  generation  of  artists  modelled 
themselves  upon  it.  The  cartoon  of  the  Bathers  is  certainly  the  most 
important  monument  of  the  early  Florentine  period,  the  most  compre- 
hensive revelation  of  the  new  method  of  studying  the  human  body.  The 
few  samples  of  the  lost  cartoon  which  the  burin  of  Marc  Antonio  "  has 
preserved  for  us  are  sufficient  to  give  some  idea  of  the  scope  of  the  "  great 
drawing  "  (^;y///  dhegno). 

^  The  St.  Matthew  belongs  to  a  series  of  the  Twelve  Apostles  which  was  intended  for 
the  Cathedral  at  Florence,  but  not  even  this  first  figure  was  ever  completed. 
Bartsch.  487,  488,  472.    Also  Ay.  Veneziano,  B.  423. 


MICHELANGELO 


57 


It  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that 
Michelangelo  had  a  share  in  the 
choice  of  the  subject.  A  battle 
scene  in  which  swords  had  been 
drawn  and  armour  donned  had  evi- 
dently been  proposed  as  a  pendant 
to  Leonardo's  fresco  in  the  Coun- 
cil Chamber.  The  artist,  however, 
was  permitted  to  depict  the  moment 
when  a  company  of  bathing  sol- 
diers were  called  out  of  the  river 
by  an  alarm.  This  incident  had 
occurred  in  the  Pisan  wars.  Nothing 
however  speaks  more  clearly  for 
the  high  tone  of  the  general  artistic 
feeling  in  Florence  than  the  fact 
that  such  a  scene  was  admitted 
as  the  subject  of  a  monumental 
fresco. 

The  clambering  up  the  steep  bank,  the  kneeling  and  reaching  down  to 
the  water,  the  erect  figures  donning  armour,  and  seated  forms  hastily 
drawing  on  their  garments,  the  shouting  and  running,  gave  opportunities 
for  the  most  varied  movement ;  and  the  artist  could  represent  nude  forms 
to  his  heart's  content  without  violating  historical  accuracy.  Later  his- 
torical painters  would  have  gladly  accepted  the  idea  of  the  nude  figures, 
but  would  have  condemned  the  subject  as  too  insignificant  and  too 
anecdotic. 

The  anatomists  among  the  Florentine  artists  had  always  taken  as 
subjects  fights  between  nude  combatants.  We  know  of  two  engravings  of 
this  kind  by  Antonio  Pollaiuolo,  and  we  are  told  that  \'errocchio  made  a 
sketch  of  nude  warriors,  which  Avas  intended  to  be  reproduced  on  the  facade 
of  some  house.  Michelangelo's  work  should  be  compared  with  such 
productions.  It  would  then  be  seen  that  he  has  not  only  invented,  so 
to  speak,  all  movement  afresh,  but  that  the  human  figure  first  becomes 
coherent  in  his  hands. 

The  older  scenes  might  exhibit  excited  combatants,  but  the  figures 
seem  as  if  they  were  fixed  between  invisible  barriers.    Michelangelo  first 


Fragment  from  the  Cartoon  of  the  Bathing 
Soldiers,  liy  Michelangelo. 


58  THE   ART   OP   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


exhibits  the  utmost  power  of  movement  of  which  the  human  form  is 
capable.  There  is  more  resemblance  between  all  the  earlier  figures  than 
between  any  two  figures  of  Michelangelo.  He  seems  to  have  first  dis- 
covered the  third  dimension  and  foreshortening,  although  most  earnest 
attempts  had  already  been  made  in  that  direction. 

The  reason  of  this  liberal  employment  of  movement  can  be  traced  to 
his  intimate  knowledge  of  anatomy.  He  was  not  the  first  to  prosecute 
anatomical  studies,  but  he  was  the  first  to  realise  the  organic  connection  of 
the  human  bodv.  He  knew  on  what  the  impression  of  movement 
depended,  and  brought  out  the  expressive  forms,  giving  eloquence  to  every 
joint. 

2.    The  Paintings  ox  the  CeilinCx  of  the  Sistixe  Chapel 

The  spectator  may  justly  complain  that  the  Sistine  ceiling  is  a  torture 
to  him.  He  is  forced  to  study  a  series  of  episodes  with  his  head  bent  back. 
The  whole  place  seems  alive  with  figures  which  claim  to  be  seen.  He  is 
drawn  this  way  and  that,  and  finally  has  no  option  left  but  to  capitulate 
to  redundance  and  abandon  the  exhausting  sight. 

It  was  Michelangelo's  own  choice.  The  original  design  was  far 
simpler.  The  Tzcelve  Apostles  were  to  have  been  in  the  spandrils, 
and  the  flat  surface  in  the  middle  would  have  been  filled  with  a  mere 
geometrical  ornamentation.  A  drawing  of  Michelangelo's  in  London,^ 
shows  us  how  the  whole  would  have  looked.  Some  competent  critics  are  of 
opinion  that  it  is  a  pity  he  did  not  adhere  to  this  project,  since  it  would 
have  been  "  more  organic.''  In  any  case  such  a  ceiling  w^ould  have  been 
easier  to  examine  than  the  present  one.  The  Apostles  ranged  along  the 
sides  would  have  been  comfortably  seen,  and  the  ornamental  patterns  of 
the  flat  middle  surface  would  have  given  the  spectator  no  trouble. 
Michelangelo  refused  for  a  long  time  to  undertake  the  commission  at  all. 
But  it  was  his  own  desire  that  the  ceiling  should  be  painted  on  this  colossal 
scale.  It  was  he  who  represented  to  the  Pope  that  the  figures  of  the 
Apostles  alone  would  make  but  a  meagre  decoration.  In  the  end  he  was 
given  a  free  hand  to  paint  whatever  he  wished.  If  the  figures  on  the 
ceiling  did  not  so  clearly  show  the  triumphant  joy  of  a  creator,  we  might 
say  that  the  painter  vented  his  ill  humour  and  took  his  revenge  for  the 
1  Published  in  the  Jahrbuch  der  Preussischen  Kunstsammlungen  1892  (Wolfflin). 


MICHELANGELO 


59 


uncongenial  commission.  The  Lord  of  the  Vatican  should  have  his  ceiling, 
but  he  should  be  forced  to  stretch  his  neck  to  look  at  it  ! 

In  the  Sistine  Chapel  Michelangelo  first  enunciated  the  axiom  which 
became  significant  for  the  whole  century,  that  no  beauty  is  comparable  to 
that  of  the  human  figure.  The  principle  of  the  decoration  of  fiat  surfaces 
bv  botanical  designs  is  abandoned,  and  w  here  we  might  expect  the  tendrils 
of  foliage  Ave  have  nothing  but  human  forms.  There  is  not  an  atom  of 
ornamental  filling  on  which  the  eye  can  rest.  Michelangelo  certainly 
employed  gradations  and  treated  certain  classes  of  figures  as  subordinate. 
In  their  colour,  too,  he  made  distinctions,  giving  them  the  tints  of  stone 
or  of  bronze,  but  this  is  no  equivalent,  and  however  one  may  regard  the 
matter  it  is  certain  that  the  complete  covering  of  the  flat  surface  with 
human  figures  implies  a  sort  of  ruthlessness  which  furnishes  subject  for 
reflection. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Sistine  ceiling  remains  a  marvel,  which  can 
hardly  be  matched  in  Italy.  This  decoration  is  as  the  thunderous  reve- 
lation of  a  new  force  in  its  contrast  to  the  timid  pictures,  which  the  masters 
of  the  previous  generation  had  painted  on  the  w^alls  beneath.  The  spectator 
should  always  begin  by  studying  these  Quattrocentist  frescoes,  and  should 
not  raise  his  eyes  upwards  until  he  has  familiarised  himself  somewhat 
with  them.  Then  and  then  only  w  ill  the  mighty  waves  of  life  on  the 
vaulted  ceiling  exercise  their  full  power  on  him,  and  he  will  feel  the 
sublime  harmony  which  links  and  joins  the  huge  masses  above  him.  In 
any  case,  on  entering  the  chapel  for  the  first  time  the  visitor  will  do  well 
to  ignore,  i.e.  turn  his  back  on,  the  Last  Judgment,  painted  on  the  wall 
above  the  altar.  By  this  work  of  his  old  age  Michelangelo  greatly  injured 
the  impression  produced  by  the  ceiling.  The  colossal  picture  has  destroyed 
the  proportions  of  everything  round,  and  has  set  up  a  standard  of  size 
which  dwarfs  the  ceiling. 

If  w^e  attempt  to  explain  to  ourselves  the  causes  which  produce  the 
effect  of  this  ceiling  painting  we  shall  meet  with  a  series  of  ideas  even 
in  the  arrangement  which  Michelangelo  was  the  first  to  conceive.  In  the 
first  place  he  treated  the  entire  surface  of  the  vaulted  roof  as  a  whole. 
Any  other  artist  would  have  separated  the  spandrils  (as  for  example 
Raphael  did  in  the  Villa  Farnesina).  Michelangelo  did  not  wish  to  break 
up  the  space.  He  devised  a  comprehensive  structural  system,  and  the 
thrones  of  the  prophets  which  rise  within  the  spandrils  are  so  incorporated 


60 


THE   ART   OP   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


with  the  central  framework  that  they  cannot  be  detached  from  the 
whole. 

The  distribution  lays  little  stress  on  the  existing  formation  of  the 
ceiling.  It  was  far  from  the  artist's  intention  to  accept  and  explain  the 
given  conditions  of  structure  and  space.  He  certainly  carried  the  main 
cornice  over  the  triangles  above  the  lunettes  with  much  precision,  but  as 
the  thrones  of  the  prophets  in  the  spandrils  disregard  the  triangular  shape 
of  these  parts,  so  also  is  the  rhythm  that  informs  the  entire  system  quite 
independent  of  the  real  structure.  The  contraction  and  the  expansion 
of  the  intervals  in  the  central  axis,  and  the  alternation  of  large  and  small 
spaces  between  the  transverse  arches,  in  combination  with  the  striking 
groups  in  the  spandrils,  appearing  at  intervals  on  the  less  accentuated 
parts,  make  up  so  splendid  a  composition  that  Michelangelo  in  this  alone 
surpasses  all  earlier  achievements.  He  helps  the  effect  by  the  darker 
colouring  of  the  neio^hbourinc;  divisions — the  i>;round  of  the  medallions  is 
violet,  the  triangular  segments  near  the  thrones  are  green — by  Avhich  the 
lighter  main  motifii  are  shown  off,  and  the  shifting  of  the  accent  from 
the  centre  to  the  sides,  and  then  back  again  to  the  centre,  becomes  more 
impressive. 

Combined  u  ith  this,  a\  e  get  a  new  standard  of  size,  and  a  new  gradation 
in  the  dimensions  of  the  figures.  The  seated  Prophets  and  Sibyls  are  of 
colossal  proportions.  Next  to  them  come  small  and  still  smaller  figures. 
We  do  not  notice  at  once  how  far  the  scale  of  size  diminishes  ;  we  only 
note  the  wealth  of  forms  and  accept  it  as  inexhaustible. 

A  further  factor  in  the  composition  is  the  distinction  between  figures 
which  were  meant  to  make  a  plastic  effect,  and  historical  subjects  which  appear 
merely  as  pictures.  The  Prophets  and  Sibyls  and  all  their  accompaniments 
exist  as  material  objects,  and  have  a  reality  quite  distinct  from  that  of  the 
figures  in  the  historical  subjects.  Occasionally  the  figures  (Slaves)  seated  on 
the  frame-M'ork  invade  the  surface  of  the  picture.  This  distinction  is  connected 
with  a  contrast  in  direction.  The  figures  in  the  spandrils  are  at  right 
angles  to  the  pictures.  They  cannot  be  seen  together,  and  yet  they  cannot 
be  entirely  separated.  A  part  of  another  group  is  always  included  in  the 
view,  and  thus  the  imagination  is  kept  continually  on  the  alert. 

It  is  marvellous  that  a  collection  of  so  many  striking  figures  could  ever 
have  been  combined  so  as  to  present  a  unity  of  effect.  This  Avould  have 
been  impossible  but  for  the  extreme  simplicity  of  the  strongly  marked 


MICHELANGELO 


61 


architectonic  framework.  Festoons,  cornice  and  thrones  are  of  plain  white, 
and  this  is  the  first  great  example  of  monochrome.  The  many-coloured 
dainty  patterns  of  the  Quattrocento  would  in  fact  have  been  meaningless 
here.  The  repetition  of  the  white  tint  fuid  the  simple  forms  is  admirably 
adapted  to  bring  an  element  of  repose  into  the  prevailing  tumult. 

The  Subject  Pictuiies 

^Michelangelo  claims  from  the  first  the  right  to  tell  his  stories  by  means 
of  nude  figures.  The  Sacrifice  of  Noah,  and  the  Drunkenness  of' 
Noah  are  compositions  mainly  of  nudities.  The  buildings,  costumes, 
furniture,  all  the  magnificent  details  which  Benozzo  Gozzoli  presents  to  us 
in  his  Old  Testament  pictures,  are  absent,  or  are  indicated  as  slightly  as 
possible.  There  is  no  attempt  to  introduce  landscape.  Not  a  blade  of  grass, 
if  not  absolutely  necessary.  Here  and  there  in  a  corner  a  roughly  drawn 
fernlike  vegetation  appears.  This  symbolised  the  creation  of  the  vegetable 
world.  A  tree  signifies  the  Garden  of  Eden.  All  means  of  expression  are 
combined  in  these  pictures.  The  sweep  of  the  lines  and  the  spacing  are 
made  to  add  to  the  expressiveness,  and  the  story  is  told  with  a  concen- 
trated pregnancy  without  parallel.  This  does  not  apply  so  much  to  the 
earlier  pictures  as  to  the  more  advanced  works.  We  shall  note  the  process 
of  development. 

Of  the  first  three  pictures  the  Drunkenness  of  Noah  takes  the  foremost 
place  for  concentration  of  composition.  The  Sacrifice  of  Noah,  notwith- 
standing a  clever  motive,  of  which  later  artists  made  full  use,  stands  on  a 
lower  plane.  The  Flood,  which  from  its  subject  might  be  compared  with 
the  Bathing-  Soldiers,  and  is  crowded  with  large  figures,  appears  as  a  whole 
somewhat  fragmentary.  The  idea  that  the  people  behind  the  mountain 
are  advancing  towards  the  spectator  is  a  remarkable  device  for  the  sugges- 
tion of  space.  We  do  not  see  how  many  there  are,  and  imagine  a  vast 
multitude.  It  would  have  been  well  if  many  painters,  who  have  attempted 
to  represent  the  Crossing  of  the  Red  Sea  or  similar  scenes  of  crowding 
masses,  had  been  able  to  achieve  such  results.  The  Sistine  Chapel  itself 
shows  in  its  frescoes  an  example  of  the  older  and  poorer  style. 

As  soon  as  Michelangelo  obtained  more  space  his  powers  grew.  In  the 
picture  of  the  Fall  and  the  E.vpulsion  he  spreads  his  wings,  now  fully 


THE   ART   OF   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


grown,  and  in  the  succeeding  pictures  soars  upwards  to  heights  which  no 
other  painter  has  ever  reached. 

The  Fall  is  famihar  to  us  in  earher  art  as  a  group  of  two  standing 
figures,  hardly  turned  towards  each  other,  and  only  connected  by  the  inci- 
dent of  the  proffered  apple.  The  tree  forms  the  centre  of  the  picture. 
Michelangelo  strikes  out  a  new  conception  of  the  scene.  Eve,  reclining  with 
all  the  indolent  ease  of  a  Roman,  her  back  to  the  tree,  turns  for  a  moment 
towards  the  serpent,  and  receives  the  apple  from  him  with  apparent  indif- 
ference. Adam,  who  is  standing,  stretches  his  hand  over  the  woman  into 
the  branches.  His  movement  is  not  very  intelligible  and  the  figure  is 
rather  indistinct.  But  we  see  from  the  Eve,  that  the  story  is  treated  by 
an  artist,  who  not  only  has  new  ideas  of  form,  but  has  been  able  to  inter- 
pret the  spiritual  essence  of  the  scene  :  the  indolence  of  the  woman  engen- 
ders sinful  thoughts. 

The  vegetation  of  the  Garden  of  Eden  is  indicated  by  a  few  leaves 
only.  Michelangelo  did  not  wish  to  characterise  the  spot  materially. 
Yet  by  the  sw^ep  of  the  lines  of  the  ground  and  the  expanse  of  atmos- 
phere behind  he  produced  an  expression  of  richness  and  vividness,  which  is 
strongly  contrasted  with  the  bare  horizontal  lines  of  the  neighbouring 
scene,  in  which  the  misery  of  the  Expulsion  from  the  Garden  is  depicted. 
The  figures  of  the  unhappy  sinners  are  thrust  forward  to  the  farthest  edge 
of  the  picture,  and  an  empty  yawning  space  is  produced,  as  sublimely 
grandiose  as  a  pause  of  Beethoven's.  The  woman  with  bent  back  and 
sunken  head  hurries  on,  loudly  lamenting  ;  Adam  walks  away  with  more 
dignity  and  composure,  trying  however  to  avert  the  menacing  sword  of 
the  angel — a  significant  gesture  which  Jacopo  della  Quercia  had  already 
created. 

The  Creation  of  Eve.  God  Almighty  appears  for  the  first  time  in  an 
act  of  creation,  which  takes  place  at  his  word.  All  the  details  of  earlier 
painters,  the  grasping  of  the  woman  by  the  forearm,  the  more  or  less 
violent  parting  of  body  from  body,  are  omitted.  The  Creator  does  not  touch 
the  woman ;  without  any  exercise  of  force,  but  with  a  quiet  gesture,  he 
utters  the  command  "  Arise Eve  obeys,  in  a  way  that  shows  how  depend- 
ent she  is  on  the  movement  of  her  Creator,  and  there  is  infinite  beauty  in 
the  manner  in  which  the  act  of  rising  becomes  the  gesture  of  adoration. 
Michelangelo  has  shown  here  his  conception  of  sensuous  physical  beauty.  It 
is  of  Roman  blood.    Adam  lies  sleeping  by  a  rock,  an  inert  corpse-like  form, 


MICHELANGELO 


63 


with  the  left  shoulder  prominent.  A  stump  of  wood  in  the  ground,  on 
which  his  hand  partly  rests,  produces  a  further  effect  of  dislocation  in  the 
joints.  The  line  of  the  hill  covers  and  enfolds  the  sleeper.  A  short  bough 
corresponds  in  direction  with  Eve.  The  whole  is  sharply  concentrated, 
and  there  is  so  little  margin  to  the  picture  that  the  Almighty  could 
not  have  held  himself  upright.  The  action  of  creation  is  repeated  four 
times,  but  ever  M'ith  new  and  enhanced  powers  of  movement.  First,  the 
Creation  of  Man.  God  does  not  stand  before  the  recumbent  Adam,  but 
hovers  above  him,  with  a  choir  of  angels,  all  enclosed  in  the  swelling  folds  of 
His  mantle.  The  creation  is  performed  by  contact.  The  Almighty  touches 
the  outstretched  hand  of  the  man  with  the  tip  of  His  finger.  Adam  lying 
on  the  hill-side  is  one  of  the  most  famous  figures  conceived  by  Michelangelo. 
He  is  a  combination  of  latent  power  and  absolute  helplessness.  The  man 
lies  there  in  such  an  attitude  that  we  are  sure  he  cannot  rise  of  himself. 
The  drooping  fingers  of  the  outstretched  hand  are  eloquent ;  all  he  can  do 
is  to  turn  his  head  towards  God.  And  yet  what  gigantic  action  lies 
dormant  in  that  motionless  form,  in  the  upraised  leg,  in  the  turn  of  the 
hips  !  How  powerful  the  contrast  between  the  torso  which  we  see  con- 
fronting us,  and  the  profile  of  the  lower  limbs. 

God  upon  the  Waters.  An  unsurpassable  representation  of  the  all- 
pervading  benediction  of  the  Almighty.  The  Creator  appears  in  the  air 
and  stretches  out  His  beneficent  hands  over  the  face  of  the  waters.  The 
right  arm  is  sharply  foreshortened.  The  picture  is  very  abruptly  terminated 
by  the  frame.  Next,  the  sun  and  the  moon.  The  motive  force  grows  stronger. 
We  recall  Goethe's  words  :  "  A  miij;htv  crash  heralds  the  comino-  of  the 
sun.''  God  the  Father,  with  thunder  in  His  wake,  stretches  out  His  arms^ 
while  He  abruptly  turns  and  throws  back  the  upper  part  of  His  body.  A 
momentary  check  to  His  flight,  and  sun  and  moon  are  already  created. 
Both  the  arms  of  the  Creator  are  in  motion  simultaneously.  The  right  is 
the  more  strongly  emphasised,  not  merely  because  the  eye  follows  it,  but 
because  it  is  more  boldly  foreshortened.  Movement  always  produces  a 
more  vigorous  effect  when  foreshortened.  The  figures  are  still  larger  than 
before.    There  is  not  an  inch  of  superfluous  space. 

We  here  notice  the  extraordinary  licence  that  Michelano-elo  took  when 
he  represented  God  Almighty  twice  in  the  same  picture.  His  back  only  is 
seen,  hurrying  into  the  depth  of  the  background,  as  if  shot  from  a  cannon. 
He  might  be  taken  at  first  for  the  departing  demon  of  darkness,  but  tlie 


64  THE   ART   OF   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


creation  of  herbs  and  plants  is  intended  by  this.  ^Michelangelo  thought  that 
a  mere  hasty  gesture  was  sufficient  for  this  creative  act.  The  countenance 
of  the  Creator  is  already  turned  towards  new  purposes.  There  is  a  trace  of 
primitive  art  in  the  double  appearance  of  the  same  figure  in  the  picture, 
but  the  spectator  can  convince  himself  by  covering  up  the  one  side  of  the 
composition  how  greatly  the  impression  of  movement  is  enhanced  by 
the  repetititm  of  the  flying  figure. 

In  the  last  picture,  where  Light  and  Darkness  are  separated,  and  God 
Almighty  is  borne  along  on  sweeping  clouds,  we  can  no  longer  follow  the 
artist  quite  devoutly.  Yet  this  fresco  is  calculated  above  all  the  others  to 
bring  before  our  eyes  the  marvellous  technique  of  Michelangelo.  It  is 
clearly  apparent  how  at  the  last  moment,  that  is,  during  the  actual 
painting,  he  abandoned  the  hastily  drawn  outlines  of  the  preliminary 
sketch,  {ind  tried  something  different.  This,  it  must  be  noted,  was  done 
with  colossal  figures  and  by  an  artist  who,  lying  on  his  back,  was  unable 
to  study  the  whole  effect. 

It  has  been  said  of  Michelangelo  that  he  was  interested  in  motives  of 
form  as  such,  and  would  not  accept  them  as  expressive  of  some  given 
subject.  This  may  be  true  of  many  of  his  single  figures,  but  where  he 
had  a  story  to  tell  he  always  respected  its  meaning.  The  Sistine  ceiling 
is  a  proof  of  this,  as  well  as  the  frescoes  painted  by  him  at  a  very  advanced 
age  in  the  Pauline  Chapel.  At  the  corners  of  the  ceiling  there  are  four 
soffits,  on  which,  among  other  figures,  is  Judith,  giving  the  head  of 
Holofernes  to  a  slave.  This  subject  had  often  been  treated  and  always 
as  a  more  or  less  indifferent  process  of  giving  and  receiving.  No  special 
emotion  was  usually  shown  by  Judith  or  by  the  servant.  Michelangelo 
makes  his  Judith  look  round  towards  the  bed  on  which  Holofernes  is.  lying, 
at  the  very  moment  when  the  attendant  bends  down  to  receive  the  head  on 
the  uplifted  charger.  It  is  as  if  the  corpse  had  moved.  The  scene  thus 
gains  inmeasurably  in  interest.  If  we  knew  nothing  of  Michelangelo  this 
sample  of  his  powers  would  be  enough  to  mark  its  author  out  as  a 
dramatic  painter  of  the  first  rank. 


3.  The  Pkophets  and  Sibyls 


A  connnission  for  standing  figures  of  the  twelve  Apostles  for  the 
Cathedral  at  Florence  had  been  given  to  ]\Iichelangelo,  and  twelve  seated 


MICHELANGELO 


65 


Apostles  had  also  figured  in  the  first  scheme  of  the  Sistine  Chapel. 
Prophets  and  Sibyls  were  afterwards  substituted  for  these.  The  unfinished 
St.  Mattheic  shows  how  Michelangelo  proposed  to  heighten  the  expression 
of  outward  and  inward  emotion  in  the  case  of  an  Apostle  !  What  might 
not  be  expected  of  him  when  he  created  prophetic  types  !  He  paid  no 
attention  to  conventional  attributes,  and  soon  abandoned  even  the 
traditional  scrolls.  He  went  far  beyond  a  representation,  in  which  the 
names  were  the  first  consideration,  and  the  figures  were  merely  intended  to 
proclaim  with  violent  gesticulation  that  they  had  said  something  in  life. 
He  depicts  moments  of  spiritual  life,  inspiration  itself,  rapt  soliloquy  and 
deep  absorbing  reflection,  tranquil  study  and  eager  search  through  the 
pages  of  a  book.  In  the  midst  of  such  scenes  a  commonplace  motive  is 
introduced,  such  as  the  fetching  of  a  book  from  the  shelf,  the  whole  interest 
being  concentrated  on  the  physical  movement. 

The  series  contains  youthful  and  aged  figures.  The  expression  of 
prophetic  contemplation  has  been  reserved  by  Michelangelo  for  the 
youthful  figures.  He  does  not  conceive  this  as  a  look  of  longing  ecstasy 
in  the  spirit  of  Perugino,  or  as  an  absorption,  a  passive  receptivity,  in  the 
manner  of  Guido  Reni,  in  whose  pictures  it  is  often  hard  to  distinguish 
between  a  Danae  and  a  Sibyl.  In  Michelangelo  it  is  an  active  condition, 
as  of  the  soul  going  out  to  meet  an  esoteric  influence.  The  types  have 
little  of  the  individual.  The  costumes  are  completely  ideal.  What 
characteristic  then  marks  out  the  Delphic  Sibyl  from  all  figures  of  the 
Quattrocento  ?  What  gives  such  grandeur  to  her  action  and  invests  the 
figure  with  such  fateful  inevitability  ?  The  motive  is  the  sudden  listening 
attention  of  the  prophetess,  as  she  turns  her  head  and  raises  her  arm  with 
the  scroll  for  an  instant.  The  head  is  shown  in  the  simplest  aspect, 
absolutely  full  face.  This  attitude  is  a  triumph  over  difficult  conditions. 
The  upper  part  of  the  body  is  turned  aside  and  bent  forward,  and  the 
outstretched  arm  forms  another  opposition  which  the  head  had  to  overcome 
by  a  turn.  Its  force  is  due  to  the  very  peculiarity,  that  the  full  face  is 
presented,  notwithstanding  difficulties,  and  that  the  vertical  is  elaborated 
from  contradictory  elements.  It  is  evident  that  the  sharp  encounter  Avith 
the  horizontal  line  of  the  arm  lends  energy  to  the  direction  of  the  head. 
The  treatment  of  light  is  also  important ;  the  shadow  bisects  the  face  and 
accentuates  the  middle  line,  while  the  vertical  line  is  again  emphasised  by 
the  pointed  head-cloth. 

V 


THE    ART   OF   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


The  eyes  of  the  pro- 
phetess follow  the  turn  of 
the  head  to  the  right 
with  a  peculiar  move- 
ment. It  is  the  power- 
ful, widely  opened  eyes 
that  fix  the  spectator 
from  afar.  But  the  effect 
would  be  less  strong  with- 
out the  accompanying 
lines,  which  take  up  and 
continue  the  movement 
of  the  eyes  and  head. 
The  hair  streams  in  the 
same  direction,  as  well 
as  the  great  enfolding 
mantle,  which  surrounds 
the  whole  figure  like  a 
sail. 

In  this  motive  of 
drapery  there  is  a  con- 
trast between  the  right 
and  left  of  the  silhouette 
which  is  frequent  in  iVIichelangelo's  works.  On  the  one  side  the  line 
is  smooth  and  unbroken,  on  the  other  jagged  and  agitated.  The  same 
principle  of  contrast  is  repeated  in  the  various  limbs.  While  the 
one  arm  is  raised  aloft  with  vigorous  action,  the  other  seems  a  mere 
dead  weight.  The  fifteenth  century  thought  it  necessary  to  give  equal 
animation  to  every  detail,  the  sixteenth  century  obtained  more  powerful 
results  bv  laying  the  accent  on  isolated  points.  The  Erythraean  Sibyl  is 
seated  with  one  leg  thrown  across  the  other.  In  parts  the  figure  is  com- 
pletely in  profile.  The  one  arm  is  extended,  the  other  hangs  down  and 
follows  the  compact  outline.  The  drapery  here  is  peculiarly  monu- 
mental. An  interesting  comparison  may  be  made  by  glancing  back 
at  the  figure  of  Rhetoric  on  Pollaiuolo's  tomb  of  Sixtus,  where  a  verv 
similar  motive  has  produced  a  very  dissimilar  effect  under  the  fanciful 
treatment  of  a  Quattrocentist. 


67 


Michelangelo  represents  the  aged  Sibyls  crouching  with  bowed  backs. 
The  Persian  Sibyl  holds  a  book  before  her  dim  eyes.  The  Cunujean  Sibyl 
grasps  with  both  hands  a  book  which  lies  at  her  side,  thus  giving  a 
contrast  of  action  in  the  lower  limbs  and  the  body. 

The  action  of  the  Libyan  Sibyl  is  most  complex.  She  fetches  down 
a  book  from  the  wall  behind  the  seat.  She  does  not  rise  for  this  operation, 
but  reaches  for  the  book  with  both  arms,  and  looks  in  another  direction. 
Much  ado  about  nothing. 

The  line  of  deyelopment  in  the  male  figures  passes  from  Isaiah  and 
Joel  (not  from  Zacharias)  to  the  more  grandly  conceived  figure  of  Daniel 
writing,  and  past  the  strikingly  simple  Jeremiah  to  Jonah,  who  with  a 
Titanic  gesture  bursts  through  all  the  tectonic  bounds  enframing  him. 

We  cannot  do  justice  to  these  figures  if  we  do  not  carefully  analyse 
the  motives,  and  consider  in  every  case  the  posture  of  the  body  as  a  whole, 
and  the  movement  of  the  limbs  in  detail.  Our  eves  are  so  unaccustomed 
to  grasp  the  relations  of  bodies  to  space  as  thus  rendered  that  we  shall 
find  it  difficult  to  recall  to  memory  one  of  the  motives,  even  directly  after 
looking  at  it.  Any  description  seems  pedantic  and  also  gives  the  erroneous 
impression  that  the  limbs  are  arranged  on  a  definite  system,  whereas  the 
idiosyncrasy  of  the  conception  consists  in  the  blending  of  formal  intention 
with  the  overpowering  expression  of  a  psychological  moment.  This  is  not 
equally  the  case  eyer3^where.  The  Libyan  Sibyl,  one  of  the  last  figures  on 
the  ceiling,  shows  a  splendid  wealth  of  line  and  curve,  but  the  conception 
of  the  figure  is  superficial.  In  the  same  group  of  later  figures  is  Jeremiah, 
sunk  in  profound  reverie,  and  this  form,  though  simpler  than  any  other, 
touches  our  hearts  the  most. 

4.  The  Slaves 

Nude  youthful  figures  are  seated  above  the  pillars  of  the  thrones  of  the 
Prophets.  Facing  each  other,  in  pairs,  each  couple  has  one  of  the  bronze 
medallions  between  them,  and  seems  about  to  garland  it  with  festoons  of 
fruit.  These  are  the  so-called  Slaves.  Drawn  on  a  smaller  scale  than  the 
Prophets,  their  part  in  the  tectonic  scheme  is  to  furnish  a  freely  treated 
finial  to  the  pillars.  As  crowning  figures  they  display  the  greatest  liberty 
of  gesture. 

This  gives  us  twenty  more  seated  figures  !  Tliey  present  new  possi- 
bilities, for  they  do  not  sit  facing  the  spectator,  but  in  profile  and  on  very 

Y  2 


f 


68  THE   ART   OP   THE3    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


Figures  of  Slaves,  by  Michelangelo.    (From  the  first  group.) 

low  seats.  They  are  also — and  this  is  the  most  important  point — nude 
figures.  Michelangelo  wished  for  once  to  treat  the  nude  to  his  heart's 
content.  Once  more  he  entered  the  domain  which  he  had  trodden  in  his 
cartoon  of  the  Bathing  Soldiers.  Here,  if  anywhere  in  the  decoration  of 
the  ceiling,  he  threw  himself  body  and  soul  into  the  task.  Boys  Avith 
garlands  of  fruit  were  no  unusual  subject.  Michelangelo  demanded  more 
athletic  figures.  W e  must  not  inquire  too  precisely  what  each  is  doing. 
The  motive  was  chosen,  because  it  justified  an  infinite  variety  of  gestures 
incidental  to  pulling,  lifting,  or  carrying.  We  cannot  bind  the  artist 
down  to  a  direct  explanation  of  each  gesture. 

There  is  no  peculiar  tension  of  muscles,  but  this  series  of  nude  figures 
seem  to  have  the  faculty  of  infusing  currents  of  vitality  into  the  spec- 
tator ;  they  constitute  "  a  life-communicating  art,''  to  use  the  words  of 
B.  Berenson.  The  proportions  are  so  massive,  and  the  contrasts  afforded 
by  the  disposition  of  the  limbs  are  so  powerful  that  we  feel  ourselves  face 
to  face  with  a  new  phenomenon.    What  parallels  can  the  whole  fifteenth 


MICHELANGELO 


69 


Figures  of  Slaves,  by  Michelangelo.     (B'rom  the  third  group.) 


century  produce  to  these  imposing  figures  ?  The  divergence  from  the 
normal  type  in  the  structure  of  the  bodies  is  unimportant  in  comparison 
with  the  conditions  under  which  Michelangelo  presents  the  limbs.  He 
discovered  entirely  new  effects  of  proportion.  He  brings  the  one  arm  and 
the  shins  closely  together  as  three  parallel  lines,  he  then  makes  the  down- 
stretched  arm  cut  the  line  of  the  thigh  almost  at  right  angles,  and  keeps 
the  figure,  from  the  foot  to  the  crown  of  the  head,  in  an  almost  vertical 
line.  These  are  not  mathematical  variations  of  some  problem  which  he 
set  himself.  The  unusual  gesture  has  a  convincincr  effect.  He  is  master 
of  the  figures  because  of  his  anatomical  knowledge.  This  is  the  secret  of 
his  drawing.  Anyone  who  has  seen  the  right  arm  of  the  Delphic  Sibyl 
knows  that  there  is  much  in  store.  He  treats  a  simple  problem  like  the 
support  of  an  arm  in  such  a  way  as  to  convey  an  entirely  new  impression. 
The  truth  of  this  may  be  seen  by  a  comparison  of  the  nude  youth  in 
Signorelli's  fresco  of  Moses  in  the  Sistine  Chapel  with  Michelangelo's  Slaves 
above  the  figure  of  the  prophet  Joel.    And  these  Slaves  are  among  the 


70 


THE   ART   OP   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


earlier  and  tamer  figures.  Later, 
he  added  the  effects  of  fore- 
shortening, more  and  more  boldly, 
until  he  arrived  at  the  hasty  scorzi 
of  the  last  figures.  The  wealth 
of  movement  gradually  increases. 
At  first  the  coupled  figures  have 
some  sort  of  symmetrical  corre- 
spondence, but  at  the  last  they 
form  almost  complete  contrasts. 
Michelangelo,  far  from  wearying 
at  length  of  the  ten  times  repeated 
motive,  found  that  ideas  occurred 
to  him  in  ever  fresh  profusion. 

To  judge  of  this  gradual 
development,  we  may  compare 
an  early  group,  the  Slaves  over 
Joel,  with  a  late  group,  that 
over  Jeremiah.     In  the  one  a 

Figure  of  a  Slave,  by  Michelangelo.  simple    Seated  pOSturC   iu  profile, 

no  great  difference  in  the  ar- 
rangement of  the  limbs,  and  an  approximately  symmetrical  correspond- 
ence between  the  figures.  In  the  other  we  have  two  figures,  which  have 
no  points  of  resemblance  either  in  structure,  gesture,  or  illumination,  but 
which  mutupJly  enhance  their  effect  by  contrast.  The  indolent  figure  of 
this  pair  may  well  be  acclaimed  the  finest  of  them  all,  and  not  merely  so 
because  he  has  the  noblest  features.  The  figure  is  in  repose,  but  he 
presents  grandiose  contrasts  of  direction,  and  the  peculiar  movement,  with 
the  forward  inclination  of  the  head,  leaves  a  marvellous  impression.  The 
most  daring  foreshortening  is  combined  with  absolute  clarity  and  breadth 
of  appearance.  Even  taking  into  account  the  important  effects  due  to 
the  light  here,  it  is  marvellous  that  the  figure  can  look  so  motionless. 
This  effect  would  not  be  made  but  for  the  clear  relief-like  breadth  of  the 
painting.  As  a  mass  the  figure  is  very  compact,  and  can  even  be  inscribed 
in  a  regular  geometrical  figure.  The  centre  of  gravity  is  high  up,  and 
this  produces  an  extraordinary  lightness  in  the  whole,  in  spite  of  the 
herculean  limbs.    Modern  art  has  certainly  never  surpassed  the  negligent 


MICHELANGELO 


71 


ease  of  this  type  of  seated  figure.  Strangely  enough,  we  involuntarily 
recall  a  figure  from  the  distant  foreign  world  of  Greek  Art,  the  figure  of 
the  so-called  Theseus  of  the  Parthenon. 

The  remaining  decorative  figures  on  the  ceiling  cannot  be  discussed 
here.  The  small  surfaces  with  the  lightly  sketched  figures  look  like  a 
sketch  book  of  Michelangelo's  and  are  full  of  interesting  motives,  showing 
the  dawning  possibility  of  figures  such  as  those  on  the  Tombs  of  the 
Medici.  Far  more  important  are  the  fillings  of  the  pointed  arches, 
recumbent  groups  covering  broad  triangular  spaces,  such  as  later  art 
required  in  abundance.  Then  in  the  lunettes  we  have  those  genre  scenes, 
doublv  marvellous  in  Michelangelo's  work,  the  most  astonishing  conceptions 
and  improvisations.  The  artist  himself  seems  to  have  felt  the  necessity  for 
letting  the  excitement  die  down  here,  after  the  violent  physical  and 
psvchological  stress  of  the  upper  compartments.  These  "Ancestors  of 
Christ depict  a  peaceful  uniform  existence,  the  ordinary  life  of  man. 

A  few  words  in  conclusion  as  to  the  course  of  the  work.  The  ceiling 
is  not  absolutely  homogeneous.  There  are  seams  in  it,  so  to  speak.  Every- 
one will  notice  that  the  Flood  and  its  two  companion  pictures  the 
Driinlvenness  and  the  Sacrifice  qf  Xoali  are  painted  with  much  smaller 
figures  than  the  other  episodes.  The  work  was  begun  with  these  three, 
and  there  is  good  reason  to  assume  that  Michelangelo  found  the  size  of 
the  figures  inadequate  from  below.  But  it  is  a  pity  that  the  scale  had 
to  be  altered,  for  it  was  clearly  intended  that  the  size  should  gradually 
diminish  in  the  various  classes  of  figures.  There  is  at  first  a  uniform 
gradation  from  the  Prophets  to  the  nude  Slaves,  and  thence  to  the  figures 
in  the  episodes,  and  this  produces  a  pleasantly  calm  effect.  Later  the 
inside  figures  tower  far  over  the  heads  of  the  Slaves,  and  the  scale  becomes 
uncertain.  If  the  original  proportions  had  been  adhered  to,  the  smaller 
surfaces  would  have  been  as  successful  as  the  larger,  for  the  scale  was 
uniform.  Later  a  change,  inevitable  but  not  profitable,  ensued.  The 
figure  of  the  Almighty  in  the  Crecitioii  of  Adam  is  gigantic,  and  in  the 
Creation  of'  Eve  we  find  the  same  figure  considerably  smaller.^ 

1  It  is  probable  that  with  the  new  scale  of  proportion  a  change  in  the  general  scheme 
was  made  and  a  new  series  of  scenes  adopted,  for  it  cannot  be  imagined  that  the  scenes  of 
the  Creation  with  their  few  figures  could  have  filled  up  the  space  if  drawn  on  the  scale  o  f 
the  Flood.    Some  such  change  in  the  general  scheme  must  be  assumed,  because  the  Sacrifice 


72 


THE   ART   OP   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


The  second  "  seain appears  in  the  middle.  A  fresh  increase  in  size  is  sud- 
denly noticeable.  This  time  the  change  is  in  every  part,  and  the  Prophets 
and  Slaves  are  so  large  that  the  architectonic  system  could  no  longer  be 
uniformly  carried  out.  The  engravers  have  indeed  disguised  the  irregula- 
rities, but  photographs  afford  a  convincing  proof  of  it.  We  know  that 
there  was  a  long  interruption  in  the  middle  of  the  work,  and  Michelangelo, 
when  he  resumed  the  painting,  was  bent  on  an  increase  of  scale.  At  the 
same  time  the  colour-scheme  was  altered.  The  early  historical  scenes  are 
bright  in  tone.  The  skies  are  blue,  the  fields  green,  and  there  are  only 
brilliant  tints  and  light  shadows.  Later  everything  is  subdued,  the  sky  is 
whitish  grev,  the  draperies  dull.  The  colours  lose  body  and  become  watery. 
The  gold  disappears.    The  shadows  become  more  intense. 

From  the  commencement  Michelangelo  worked  at  the  ceiling  in  its  full 
breadth,  and  therefore  progressed  simultaneously  with  the  "  histories and 
the  figures  of  the  Prophets.  He  continued  similarly  after  the  great  inter- 
ruption and  it  was  only  quite  at  the  last  that  he  rapidly  painted  in  the 
lower  figures  in  the  pointed  arches  and  lunettes  continuously. 

5.  The  To:\ir>  or  Julius 

The  ceiling  in  the  Sistine  Chapel  is  a  monument  of  that  pure  style  of 
the  High  llenaissance  which  did  not  yet  know,  or  did  not  yet  acknowledge, 
any  discordant  note.  The  tomb  of  Pope  Julius,  if  it  had  been  carried  out 
according  to  the  original  intention,  would  have  been  its  plastic  counterpart. 
As  is  well  known,  it  was  executed  much  later  on  a  very  reduced  scale, 
and  in  a  different  style.  Of  the  original  figures  carved  by  the  master  only 
the  Moses  found  a  place  on  the  monument.  The  so-called  Dying  Slaves  went 
their  separate  way,  and  eventually  found  a  resting  place  in  the  Louvre. 
We  have  not  only  to  lament  that  a  monument  planned  on  a  grand  scale 
was  reduced  to  insignificance,  but  that  its  suppression  left  us  absolutely 
without  a  monument  of  Michelangelo's  "  pure"'  style.  The  work  nearest  to 
it,  but  separated  by  a  wide  interval,  the  San  Lorenzo  Chapel,  is  in  a  very 
different  manner. 

It  will  not  be  out  of  place  here  to  make  some  general  remarks  on 

of  Noah  is  admittedly  out  of  its  place,  so  much  so  that  early  critics  (Condivi)  described  it 
as  the  Sacrifice  of  Cam  and  AheJ,  to  preserve  the  chronological  continuity.  This 
explanation,  however,  is  not  tenable. 


MICHELANGELO 


73 


sepulchral  nionunients. 
The  Florentines  had  de- 
veloped a  type  of  gorge- 
ous mural  tombs,  which 
may  be  best  exemplified 
by  the  tomb  of  the  Car- 
dinal of  Portugal  by 
Antoni  Hossellino  in  San 
Miniato.  The  character- 
istic feature  is  the  flat 
niche,  in  which  the  sarco- 
phagus is  placed  with 
the  figure  of  the  deceased 
above  it  on  a  couch.  In 
a  roundel  above  it  is  the 
Madonna  who  looks  down 
smilingly  on  the  corpse, 
while  laughing  angels  up- 
hold the  garlanded  me- 
dallion as  they  fly.  Two 
little  nude  boys,  seated 
on  the  bier,  try  to  show 
tearful     faces.  Above 

them,  on  the  top  of  the  pilasters,  are  two  full-grown  angels,  grave  and 
majestic,  offering  the  crown  and  palms.  The  niche  is  enframed  by  a 
draped  curtain  in  stone. 

In  order  to  picture  to  ourselves  the  original  effect  of  the  monument 
an  important  factor  has  to  be  imagined,  i.e.  colour.  The  violet  marble 
of  the  background,  the  green  surfaces  between  the  pilasters,  and  the 
mosaic  pattern  of  the  floor  under  the  sarcophagus  are  still  visible,  since 
stone  does  not  lose  its  colour,  but  all  the  painted  colours  have  disappeared, 
destroyed  by  an  age  hostile  to  colour.  Traces  still  remain  however, 
enough  to  allow  us  to  imagine  the  original  effect.  Every  detail  was 
coloured.  The  robes  of  the  cardinal,  the  cushion,  and  the  brocade  of  the 
pall  in  which  the  pattern  is  also  suggested  in  low  relief.  The  monument 
glittered  with  gold  and  purple.  The  lid  of  the  sarcophagus  had  a  brightly 
coloured   scale   pattern,   and   the  ornamental   pilasters  as  well  as  the 


Tomb  of  the  Cardinal  of  Portugal,  by  Antonio  Rossellino. 


74 


THE   ART   OF   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


mouldings  of  the  frame  were  gilded.  The  rosettes  of  the  soffit  were 
gold  on  a  dark  ground.  The  festoons  and  the  angels  were  also  orna- 
mented with  gold.  The  triviality  of  a  stone  curtain  is  only  endurable  if 
carried  out  with  colour.  The  pattern  of  the  brocaded  surface  and  the 
checkers  of  the  lining  are  still  quite  discernible. 

This  colouring  of  statues  and  monuments  ceased  suddenly  with  the 
sixteenth  century.  The  grandiose  tombs  of  Andrea  Sansovino  in  Santa 
^Nlaria  del  Popolo  show  no  trace  of  it.  Colour  is  replaced  by  effects  of 
light  and  shade.    The  figures  stand  out  white  from  the  dark  niches. 

A  second  element  appears  in  the  sixteenth  century ;  the  architectonic 
sense  makes  itself  felt.  The  early  Renaissance  was  still  fanciful  in  its 
buildings,  and  according  to  our  ideas  there  is  something  adventitious  in 
its  combination  of  figures  and  architecture.  Rossellino's  tomb  is  itself 
a  striking  example  of  the  inorganic  style  of  the  fifteenth  century.  Take, 
for  instance,  the  kneeling  angels.  Their  tectonic  coherence  is  nil,  or  at 
any  rate  of  the  very  loosest.  The  manner  in  which  they  stand  on  the 
top  of  the  pilasters  with  one  foot,  with  the  other  in  space,  offends  a  later 
taste.  Still  more  offensive  is  the  intersection  of  the  enframing  moulding 
by  the  out- thrust  foot,  and  the  absence  of  any  incorporation  of  the  figure 
with  the  surface  of  the  wall.  The  topmost  angels  also  float  in  space 
without  any  form  or  setting.  The  series  of  pilasters  inserted  in  the 
niche  have  no  real  relation  to  the  whole  conception.  The  crudeness 
of  the  architectonic  feeling  generally  is  shown  by  the  treatment  of 
the  soffit,  Mhich  is  lined  from  top  to  bottom  with  over-large 
coffered  compartments,  no  distinction  being  made  between  the  arch  and 
the  impost.  The  same  strictures  apply  to  the  motive  of  the  marble 
curtain. 

In  Sansovino's  work  a  definitely  organised  architectural  system  is  the 
governing  idea.  Every  figure  has  its  appropriate  place,  and  the  parts 
form  a  homogeneous  whole.  There  is  a  large  niche  with  a  flat  back- 
ground, smaller  vaulted  side-niches,  and  all  three  are  blended  into  a 
harmonious  arrangement  of  semi-colunms  with  a  complete  entablature 
running  right  across. 

Michelangelo's  Tomb  of  Pope  Julius  would  have  been  a  similar 
combination  of  architecture  and  sculpture.  Not  a  mural  tomb,  but  a  free 
structure  of  several  storeys — an  elaborate  marble  erection,  in  which 
sculpture  and  architecture  were  to  combine,  as  in  the  Santa  Casa  at 


MICHELANGELO 


75 


Loretto.  In  wealth  of 
sculpture  it  would  have 
surpassed  all  existing 
monuments,  and  the  mas- 
ter who  created  the  Sis- 
tine  ceilino'  would  have 
been  the  man  to  have 
breathed  a  mighty  rhythm 
into  the  whole.  The 
figure  of  the  deceased  Avas 
usually  represented  in  the 
fifteenth  century  as  re- 
cumbent, as  if  sleeping, 
the  legs  stretched  out 
straight,  the  hands  sim- 
ply folded  one  on  the 
other.  Sansovino  retained 
the  idea  of  sleep,  but  the 
traditional  way  of  lying 
was  too  simple  and  con- 
ventional for  him.  His 
figure  lies  on  its  side ; 
the  legs  are  crossed,  one 
arm  is  thrust  under  the 

head,  and  the  hand  hangs  away  from  the  pillow.  Later  the  figures  become 
more  agitated,  as  if  evil  dreams  tormented  the  sleeper.  Lastly  the  idea 
of  sleep  is  abandoned  and  the  figure  is  represented  as  reading  or  praying. 
Michelangelo's  conception  Avas  quite  original.  He  planned  a  group  show- 
ing the  Pope  laid  to  rest  by  two  angels.  The  figure  is  still  partly  raised 
so  that  it  is  quite  visible ;  presently  it  was  to  be  entombed  like  a  Dead 
Christ.i 

This  would  have  been  a  mere  incident  in  comparison  with  the  wealth 
of  figures  which  had  been  planned.  We  have,  as  has  been  said,  only 
three  of  them,  the  two  Slaves  from  the  lower  storey  of  the  monument  and 
the  Moses  from  the  upper  storey. 

^  Cf.  Jahrh.  d.  Preuss.  Kunstsammlungen,  188-4  (Schmarsow),  in  which  the  chief 
document,  the  drawing  in  the  possession  of  Herr  von  Beckerath  of  Berlin,  is  published. 


Turab  of  a  i'rclate,  by  Andrea  Sansovino. 
(The  upper  part  omitted.) 


I 


76 


THE   ART   OP   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


These  Slaves  are  fettered,  less  by  their  actual  bonds,  than  by 
their  structural  purpose.  They  were  to  be  placed  in  front  of  pillars 
and  they  share  the  restraint  of  the  architectonic  form.  They  are 
subject  to  a  force  which  prohibits  any  movement  of  their  own. 
The  tense  posture  of  the  body,  giving  the  impression  that  the  limbs 
could  not  move  from  a  definite  spot,  which  is  noticeable  in  the  unfinished 
St.  Matthew  at  Florence,  is  repeated  here  with  a  more  pronounced  reference 
to  the  function  of  the  figure.  The  representation  of  the  gradual  awakening 
of  movement  in  the  body  is  unsurpassable.  The  sleeper  stretches  himself, 
his  head  still  languidly  inclined ;  his  hand  passes  mechanicallv  over  his 
breast,  and  the  thighs  rub  one  against  the  other.  There  is  the  deep 
drawing  of  a  breath  before  complete  waking  consciousness.  The  block  of 
marble  that  remains  unhewn  so  enhances  the  impression  of  self-liberation 
that  it  seems  essential  to  the  composition. 

The  second  slave  is  not  presented  full-face,  but  in  profile. 

In  his  Mosefi  Michelangelo  again  represents  a  certain  restraint  of  move- 
ment. The  cause  of  this  is  to  be  sought  here  in  the  volition  of  the  person 
himself:  it  symbolises  the  last  moment  of  self-control  before  giving  way  to 
impulse,  i.e.  before  starting  up.  It  is  interesting  to  compare  the  Moses 
with  the  earlier  series  of  colossal  seated  figures  sculptured  by  Donatello  and 
his  contemporaries  for  the  cathedral  at  Florence.  Donatello  even  then  tried 
to  represent  the  typical  seated  figure  as  instinct  with  life,  but  how  different  is 
Michelangelo's  conception  of  movement  !  The  relation  of  this  figure  to  the 
Prophets  of  the  Sistine  ceiling  is  at  once  apparent.  Michelangelo  required 
an  absolutely  compact  mass  for  a  plastic  as  opposed  to  a  pictorial  presenta- 
tion. This  constituted  his  strength.  We  must  go  back  very  far  to  find 
a  similar  appreciation  of  coherent  bulk.  Quattrocentist  sculpture  seems 
very  fragile  even  where  it  aims  at  powerful  effects.  The  Moses  displays 
clear  traces  of  Michelangelo's  early  style.  Later  he  would  hardly  have 
approved  of  the  multiplicity  of  the  folds  and  the  deep  hollows.  In  this 
statue  as  also,  e.g.,  in  the  Pkta,  he  aimed  at  obtaining  bright  reflections 
by  means  of  a  highly  polished  surface. 

The  figure  was  intended  to  stand  diagonally  ;  it  is  in  semi-profile.  It 
is  necessary  to  get  a  clear  sight  of  the  leg  which  is  drawn  back,  since  the 
action  of  the  figure  depends  chiefly  on  this.  From  this  point  of  view  the 
main  directions,  the  angle  formed  by  the  arm  with  the  leg,  and  the  jagged 
outline  of  the  left  side,  are  remarkaky  distinct.  The  head,  which  is  turned 


77 


round,  gradually  dominates  the  whole  with  its  vertical  line.  The  side 
turned  away  from  the  spectator  is  carelessly  executed,  and  the  action  of 
the  arm  and  of  the  hand  which  pulls  at  the  beard  could  never  have 
produced  an  interesting  effect. 

The  figure  was  finally  placed  to  confront  the  spectator,  and  it  is  difficult 
to  realise  what  the  effect  would  be  if  it  were  seen  obliquely.  The  colossus 
was  thrust  into  a  niche,  and  the  detached  shrine  projected  by  the  master 
became  a  mural  tomb  of  modest  proportions.  Forty  years  after  its  incep- 
tion the  work  was  brought  to  an  end  with  this  lamentable  compromise. 
Meanwhile  the  artist's  style  had  undergone  a  complete  modification.  The 
statue  of  Moses  was  intentionally  brought  into  surroundings  which 
seem  too  cramped  for  him.  He  was  put  into  a  frame  which  he 
threatens  to  burst.  The  necessary  resolution  of  this  dissonance  lay  in 
the  accessory  figures.    This  is  a  baroque  conception. 


IV 


RAPHAEL 
1483—1520 

Raphael  spent  his  youth  in  Unibria.  He  won  special  distinction  in 
the  school  of  Perngino,  and  so  completely  assimilated  the  emotional  style 
of  the  master  that  in  \^asari's  judgment  it  is  impossible  to  distinguish 
between  the  pictures  of  the  teacher  and  his  pupil.  Never  perhaps  did  a 
pupil  of  genius  so  entirely  absorb  the  manner  of  his  master  as  did  Raphael. 
The  angel  which  Leonardo  painted  in  Verrocchio's  Baptism  of'  Christ  at 
once  strikes  the  spectator  as  something  peculiar,  the  boyish  productions  of 
Michelangelo  resemble  nothing  else,  but  Raphael  in  his  early  works  is  not 
to  be  divorced  from  Perugino.  Then  he  went  to  Florence.  Michelangelo 
had  just  completed  all  the  great  works  of  his  youth,  had  set  up  his  David ^ 
and  was  employed  on  his  Bathing  Soldiers.  Leonardo  meantime  had 
designed  the  cartoon  of  his  battle-piece,  and  in  his  Monna  Lisa  was  achieving 
unprecedented  results.  He  was  already  in  the  prime  of  life  and  had  won 
a  brilliant  reputation  ;  Michelangelo  was  on  the  threshold  of  manhood 
with  an  assured  future  before  him,  while  Raphael  had  barely  passed  his 
twentieth  year.  What  prospect  of  success  could  he  hope  for  when  pitted 
against  these  giants  ? 

Perugino  was  highly  esteemed  on  the  Arno.  The  youthful  Raphael 
may  well  have  been  told  that  he  might  alway  find  a  public  for  his  master's 
style.  He  may  have  been  encouraged  to  hope  that  he  would  become  a 
second  or  even  a  better  Perugino.  His  pictures  did  not  seem  to  promise 
any  more  strongly  marked  individuality. 

Free  from  any  trace  of  Florentine  realism,  simple  in  his  conception, 
and  modest  in  his  treatment  of  the  line  of  beauty,  Raphael  entered  the 
lists  against  the  great  masters  with  very  slight  prospects  of  success.  But 


79 


he  brought  with  him  a 
talent  peculiar  to  him- 
self, a  capacity  for  grasp- 
ing fresh  notions,  and 
changing  preconceived 
ideas.  He  gave  the  first 
great  proof  of  this  when 
he  abandoned  the  tenets 
of  the  Umbrian  School 
and  devoted  himself  to 
Florentine  problems.  Few 
artists  would  have  been 
able  to  do  so,  but  if  we 
survey  the  brief  career 
of  Raphael  we  shall  be 
compelled  to  admit  that 
no  one  else  has  ever 
shown  similar  develop- 
ment in  so  limited  a  time. 
The   Umbrian  visionary 

became  the  painter  of  great  dramatic  scenes  :  the  youth  who  hardly  ven- 
tured on  contact  with  the  things  of  earth,  became  a  portrait-painter 
who  had  a  powerful  grasp  of  his  subject.  The  draughtsmanship  of 
Perugino's  style  changed  into  a  pictorial  manner,  and  the  narrow  taste  for 
beauty  in  repose  gave  place  to  the  craving  for  bold  effects  of  moving 
masses.    We  note  the  first  indication  of  the  virile  Roman  master. 

Raphael  had  not  the  fine  nerves  and  the  delicacy  of  Leonardo,  still  less 
the  strength  of  Michelangelo.  We  might  say  that  he  possessed  average 
powers,  abilities  that  all  could  understand,  if  this  expression  were  not 
liable  to  be  misinterpreted  as  a  disparagement.  That  happy  mean  of 
temperament  is  a  thing  so  rare  among  us  that  nowadays  it  would  be  far 
easier  for  most  of  us  to  understand  a  Michelangelo  than  the  frank,  bright 
and  kindly  personality  of  a  Raphael.  The  attractive  amiability  of  his 
nature,  the  trait  which  impressed  itself  most  deeply  on  all  his  associates 
still  radiates  unmistakeably  from  his  pictures. 

We  cannot  discuss  the  art  of  Raphael  without  first  dealing  with 
Perugino.    Praise  of  Perugino  was  once  considered  an  infallible  means  for 


The  Virgin  with  SS.  Sebastian  and  John  the  Bapti&t, 
by  Perugino. 


80 


acquiring  a  reputation  as  a  connoisseur  (Goldsmith's  Vicar  of'  Wakefield). 
At  the  present  day  it  would  be  advisable  to  adopt  the  opposite  course.  It 
is  known  that  he  employed  assistants  to  repeat  his  sentimental  heads,  and 
that  the  copies  escape  detection  if  looked  at  from  a  distance.  But  if  only 
one  of  his  heads  were  admittedly  genuine,  we  should  still  be  impelled  to 
ask  what  artist  had  won  from  the  Quattrocento  that  marvellously  intense 
look,  so  full  of  soul.  Giovanni  Santi  knew  why  he  coupled  Perugino  and 
Leonardo  in  his  rhyming  Chj'oiucle,  as  "  par  d'etade  e  par  d'amori.**' 
Perugino  further  possesses  a  rhythm  of  line  he  owes  to  himself  alone.  He  is 
not  only  far  simpler  than  the  Florentines,  but  he  has  an  appreciation  of 
calm  and  repose  which  forms  a  striking  contrast  to  the  restless  nature  of  the 
Tuscans  and  the  elaborate  daintiness  of  the  late  Quattrocento  style.  We 
must  compare  two  such  pictures  as  Filippino's  Appearance  of  the 
Madonna  to  St.  Bernard  in  the  Badia  of  Florence,  and  the  same  subject 
treated  by  Perugino  in  the  Pinacothek  at  Munich.  In  the  former  the  line 
is  sprawling,  and  there  is  a  confused  medley  of  detail  in  the  picture ;  in  the 
latter  there  is  absolute  repose,  quiet  lines,  noble  architecture  with  a  wide 
outlook  into  a  distant  landscape,  a  range  of  hills  fading  away  delicately  on 
the  horizon,  an  absolutely  clear  sky,  an  all-pervading  silence,  so  intense 
that  one  might  think  to  hear  the  rustling  of  the  leaves  when  the  breath  of 
evening  stirs  the  slender  trees.  Perugino  felt  the  harmony  of  landscape 
and  architecture.  He  built  his  simple,  spacious  halls,  not  as  fanciful  decora- 
tions to  his  pictures,  as  Ghirlandajo  sometimes  does,  but  as  an  effective 
resonance.  No  one  before  him  had  so  wedded  figures  and  architecture. 
(Cf.  the  illustration  of  the  Madonna  of  1493  in  the  Uflizi.)  He  is  from  the 
first  a  master  of  the  art  of  construction.  AVhere  he  has  to  deal  with 
several  figures  together,  he  builds  up  a  group  on  a  geometrical  plan.  The 
composition  of  his  Pieta  (1495)  in  the  Pitti  would  have  been  judged  by 
Leonardo  to  be  empty  and  tame,  but  in  Florence  it  had  then  a  special 
significance.  Perugino  with  his  fundamental  doctrines  of  simplicity  and 
observance  of  law  was  an  important  factor  when  Classical  Art  was  dawn- 
ing, and  we  realise  how  greatly  he  shortened  the  road  which  Raphael  was 
to  take. 

1.  The  Marriage  of  the  Virgin  and  the  Entombment 

RaphaeFs  Marriage  of  the  Virgin  (in  the  Brera  at  ]\Iilan)  bears  the  date 
1504.    It  was  the  work  of  the  artist  in  his  twenty-first  year.    The  pupil  of 


RAPHAEL 


81 


Perumno  here  shows  what  he  had  learnt  from  his  master,  and  we  can  easily 
distinguish  the  original  and  the  borrowed  features  in  the  picture,  because 
Perugino  has  painted  the  same  subject  (the  picture  is  at  Caen).  ^  The 
composition  is  practically  identical,  except  that  Raphael  has  reversed  the 
two  sides,  putting  the  men  on  the  right  and  the  women  on  the  left.  The 
other  points  of  divergence  are  slight.  Yet  the  two  pictures  are  separated 
by  all  the  difference  between  a  painter  who  works  on  traditional  lines  and 
a  more  accomplished  pupil  of  fine  susceptibilities  who,  while  still  restricted 
in  style,  tries  to  put  fresh  life  into  every  particle  of  the  accepted  motive. 

It  is  necessary  first  to  realise  this  motive.  The  ceremony  of  the 
marriage  differs  somewhat  in  detail  from  the  usual  renderings.  There  is 
no  exchange  of  rings,  but  the  bridegroom  holds  out  to  the  bride  a  ring, 
in  which  she  places  her  finger.  The  Priest  holds  the  wrists  of  both  and 
joins  their  hands.  The  minute  detail  of  the  procedure  presented  great 
difficulties  to  the  artist.  It  is  necessary  to  look  very  closely  into 
Perugino's  picture  to  discover  the  real  meaning  of  the  act.  Raphael  has 
here  worked  independently.  He  places  Mary  and  Joseph  farther  apart 
and  alters  their  attitudes.  Joseph  has  already  made  his  gesture  and  the 
ring  has  been  brought  into  the  middle  of  the  picture.  It  is  Mary's  turn 
to  act,  and  the  attention  of  the  spectator  is  directed  to  the  movement  of 
her  right  arm.  This  arm  forms  the  real  centre  of  action  in  the  group,  and 
the  reason  why  Raphael  altered  the  position  of  the  figures  is  easily  under- 
stood. He  wanted  to  display  the  important  limb  in  the  front  of  the 
picture  and  uncovered.  Nor  is  this  all  :  the  direction  of  the  movement  is 
now  taken  up  by  the  Priest  who  guides  Mary's  hand,  and  instead  of  stand- 
ing as  in  Perugino's  painting,  a  stiff  central  line,  follows  the  action  with 
his  whole  person.  The  movement  of  his  body  suggests  the  "  Put  it  on  at 
any  distance.  This  shows  the  genius  of  the  born  painter,  whose  instinct 
at  once  fastens  upon  the  true  pictorial  elements  of  the  legend.  The  idea  of 
the  standing  figures  of  Mary  and  Joseph  is  the  common  property  of  the 
school,  but  Raphael  endeavoured  to  individualise  and  differentiate  while 
retaining  the  types.  How  delicate  is  the  differentiation  of  the  way  in  which 
the  two  hands  are  grasped  by  the  Priest ! 

The  subordinate  figures  are  so  arranged  that  they  do  not  distract 
the  eye,  but  rather  serve  to  concentrate  the  effect.    There  is  an  almost 

^  Berenson  assigns  the  picture  to  Lo  Spagna,  painting  under  the  influence  of 
'Rai^hsiel  {Gazette  des  Beaux-Arts.  1896). 

G 


I 


82  THE   ART   OP   THE   ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE  Wj 


audacious  interruption  of 
the  symmetry  by  the 
figure'of  the  suitor  break- 
ing his  rod  in  [the  right- 
hand  -corner  [of  the  pic- 
ture. Perugino  also  has 
this  ^figure,  but  brings  it 
further  back. 

The  beautiful  little 
temple  in  the  background 
is  placed  so  high  that  it 
in  no  way  interferes  with 
the  lines  of  the  figures. 
This  again  is  in  Peru- 
gino's  purest  style.  He 
adopted  the  same  ar- 
rangement in  the  great 
fresco  of  Christ  deliver- 
ing the  Keys  at  Home. 

The  Entombment,  by  Perugino.  FiffUrCS  and  architecture 

stand    apart    like  oil 

and  water.  His  figures  are  intended  to  stand  out  in  clear  silhouette 
against  a  symmetrically  paved  floor.  How  different  is  the  story  of 
the  Marriage  of  Mary  when  told  by  a  Florentine  !  Everything  is 
clamorous.  Gaily  coloured  fashionable  dresses  are  de  rigueur.  The 
public  stand  and  gape,  and  instead  of  the  quietly  resigned  suitors  there  is 
a  band  of  stalwart  youths  who  pommel  the  bridegroom  with  their  fists. 
There  seems  to  be  a  general  free  fight,  and  the  wonder  is  how  Joseph  can 
remain  calm.  What  was  the  meaning  of  this  ?  The  motive  occurs  in  the 
fourteenth  century  ^  and  has  a  juristic  significance  :  the  blows  are  intended  to 
make  the  marriage  vow  impressive.  The  reader  may  perhaps  recall  a  similar 
scene  in  Immermann's  Oherhof^  where,  however,  the  motive  is  rationalised 
thus :  the  future  husband  ought  to  know  how  it  feels  to  be  beaten  ! 

Into  this  Florence  Raphael  came  to  create  a  second  school.  He  was 
hardly  recognisable  when,  three  or  four  years  after,  he   produced  the 

^  Cf.  Taddeo  Gaddi  (S.  Croce).  Also  Ghirlaiidajo  (S.  jMaria  Novella)  and  Franciabigio 
(S.  Annunziata). 


RAPHAEL 


83 


The  Entombment  ;  by  Raphael. 


Entombment  in  the  Borghese  Gallery.  He  had  abandoned  all  his  charac- 
teristics;  soft  lines,  clear  grouping  and  gentle  sensibility.  Florence  had 
worked  a  revolution  in  him.  Movement  and  the  nude  had  become  the 
problems  that  absorbed  him.  He  wished  to  present  lively  action,  displays 
of  mechanical  power,  strong  contrasts.  Michelangelo  and  Leonardo  had 
made  a  profound  impression  on  him.  How  poor  his  IJmbrian  style  must 
have  seemed  to  him  compared  with  their  achievement  ! 

The  picture  of  the  Entombment  was  a  commission  from  Perugia,  but 
the  order  was  certainly  given  not  for  this  subject  but  for  a  Pieta  such  as 
Perugino  had  painted  (his  picture  in  the  Palazzo  Pitti  is  well  known  i). 
Perugino  avoids  all  movement,  and  only  represents  the  weeping  bystanders 

^  It  may  be  mentioned  in  this  place  that  the  youthful  figure  on  the  extreme  right  of 
the  picture  corresponds  in  every  detail  to  the  AltSH.  Braccesi  of  the  Ufiizi,  which  was 
formerly  ascribed  to  Lorenzo  di  Credi. 

G  2 


■ 


84  THE    ART   OF   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


round  the  dead  body,  a  collection  of  mournful  faces  and  gracefully  drawn 
figures.  RaphaeFs  first  idea  was  a  Pietci.  Sketches  for  this  subject  are 
extant.  He  then  adopted  the  new  idea  of  the  carrying  of  the  dead  body. 
He  painted  two  men  bearing  the  pitiful  burden  up  to  the  rock-tomb. 
He  assigns  a  different  age  and  type  to  each,  and  makes  the  motive  complex 
bv  drawing  one  of  them  going  backwards,  and  therefore  obliged  to  grope 
with  his  heels  for  the  steps  he  has  to  mount. 

Amateurs  are  slow  to  grasp  the  merit  of  such  purely  physical  motives, 
and  would  prefer  as  much  psychological  expression  as  possible.  Everyone 
will  however  admit  that  under  any  circumstances  it  is  a  gain  to  introduce 
contrasts  into  the  picture,  that  repose  is  more  impressive  side  by  side  with 
movement,  and  that  the  sympathy  of  the  mourners  is  emphasised  by  the 
indifference  of  those  who  are  only  concerned  with  their  mechanical  labour. 
Perugino  chills  our  emotion  by  the  uniform  expression  of  his  heads, 
whereas  Raphael  strives  to  heighten  the  intensity  of  the  effect  by  strong 
contrasts. 

The  most  beautiful  feature  of  the  picture  is  the  body  of  Christ,  with 
the  shoulder  thrust  forward  and  the  drooping  head.  The  motive  is  the 
same  as  in  Michelangelo's  P'leta.  The  artist's  knowledge  of  anatomy  is 
still  superficial,  and  the  heads  show  no  strength  of  characterisation.  The 
articulations  of  the  limbs  are  but  slightly  defined.  The  younger  of  the  two 
bearers  is  not  very  firm  on  his  legs,  and  the  indistinctness  of  his  right  hand 
is  distressing  to  the  eye.  The  inclination  of  the  elder  man's  head  is  the 
same  as  that  of  Christ's,  and  the  effect  of  this  is  disturbing.  The  preliminary 
studies  had  avoided  this  result.  Then  the  whole  composition  is  confused. 
The  disagreeable  medley  of  legs  has  always  been  criticised,  and  we  may 
further  ask,  what  is  the  meaning  of  the  second  old  man  ?  Once  more  an 
originally  lucid  idea  seems  to  have  become  obscure.  In  the  original  sketch 
he  was  looking  down  on  the  Magdalen  as  she  hurried  towards  him,  but 
here  he  gazes  incomprehensibly  into  the  air,  and  by  the  vagueness  of  his 
action  only  accentuates  the  disagreeable  impression  produced  by  the  cluster 
of  the  four  heads.  The  beautiful  motive  of  the  Magdalen  holding  the 
hand  of  Christ  as  she  follows  the  procession  may  have  been  adopted  from 
an  antique  model. ^  The  action  of  her  right  arm  is  indistinct.  The  group 
of  the  fainting  Virgin  surpasses  as  a  motive  anything  of  Perugino's.  The 

^  Relief  in  the  Capitoline  Museum  (Hector  ? ),  Righetti.  Campidoglio,  Vol.  I. 
plate  171.    H.  Grimm  has  already  referred  to  it  in  this  connection. 


85 


kneeling  figure  in  the  foreground  was  certainly  suggested  by  Michelangelo's 
Madonna  in  the  Holu  Fcunilt/.  It  is  strange  that  we  should  have  to 
accept  such  harsh  intersections  of  arms  from  the  refined  Raphael.  This 
group  as  a  whole  is  unpleasantly  compressed  in  the  picture.  Raphael's 
original  design  was  more  justly  conceived.  He  brought  the  women  into 
the  moving  procession  of  the  chief  group,  but  let  them  follow  at  a  short 
distance.  The  picture  is  incoherent  as  it  stands.  It  must  be  added  that 
the  square  shape  is  in  itself  injurious  to  its  effect.  To  produce  the 
idea  of  a  procession  the  field  of  action  must  have  a  definite  direction. 
Titian's  Entombment  owes  much  to  the  mere  proportions  of  the  can^'as. 
What  share  in  the  Borghese  Entombment  must  be  ascribed  to  the  second 
hand  which  finished  it  is  a  disputed  point.  It  was  certainly  a  task  which 
at  the  time  Raphael  could  not  satisfactorily  accomplish.  He  had  attacked 
the  Florentine  problems  with  a  marvellous  capacity  for  learning,  but  for 
the  moment  he  lost  his  way  over  the  work. 


2.    The  Florentine  Madonnas 

Intention  and  execution  are  more  equal  in  the  Madonna  pictures  than 
in  the  Entombment.  It  is  as  a  painter  of  Madonnas  that  Raphael  has 
achieved  popularity,  and  it  may  indeed  seem  superfluous  to  test  the  charm 
of  these  pictures  by  the  coarse  methods  of  formal  analysis.  They  have 
been  familiar  to  us  all  from  our  youth  up  through  reproductions  more 
numerous  than  the  works  of  any  other  artist  in  the  world  have  called 
forth. 

The  traits  of  deep  maternal  love  and  of  childish  innocence,  of  solemn 
dignity  and  of  a  strange  supernatural  beauty  appeal  to  us  so  strongly  that 
we  do  not  ask  for  any  further  artistic  meaning.  And  yet  a  glance  at 
Raphael's  drawings  would  teach  us  that  the  problem  for  the  artist  did  not 
lie  where  the  public  thought.  The  task  was  not  merely  the  creation  of 
some  beautiful  head  or  delicious  childish  attitude,  but  involved  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  group  as  a  whole,  the  harmonising  of  the  directions  of  limbs 
and  bodies  in  various  attitudes.  No  one  need  be  debarred  from  approach- 
ing Raphael  on  the  emotional  side ;  but  a  large  proportion  of  his  artistic 
intention  will  only  be  revealed  to  the  spectator  when  he  disregards  the 
pleasurable  emotions  produced  by  the  picture,  and  proceeds  to  consider 
its  form. 


86  THE   ART   OF   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


It  will  be  well  to  arrange  pic- 
tures representing  the  same  subject 
according  to  a  scheme  of  progres- 
sive development.  In  this  connec- 
tion it  is  unimportant  whether  the 
Madonna  holds  a  book  or  an  apple, 
whether  she  is  seated  in  the  open 
air  or  not.  The  basis  of  classifica- 
tion must  not  depend  on  material 
but  on  formal  distinctions.  The 
important  questions  artistically  are  : 
whether  the  IVIadonna  is  depicted  as 
a  half-length  or  full-length  figure, 
whether  she  forms  a  group  with  one 
or  two  children,  or  whether  other 
adult  figures  are  added.  Let  us 
begin  with  the  simplest  motive,  the 
half-length  Madonna,  and  consider 
first  the  Madonna  del  Granduca  in 

The  Madonna  del  Granduca ;  by  Raphael.  the     Pitti     Gallcrj.       An  absolute 

simplicity  marks  the  vertical  line 
of  the  standing  principal  figure  and  the  (as  yet)  somewhat  timid  atti- 
tude of  the  seated  Child.  The  vitality  of  the  picture  is  due  to  the 
slight  inclination  of  the  one  head.  However  perfect  the  oval  of  the  face 
and  however  marvellously  conceived  the  expression,  the  effect  Avould  not 
have  been  attained  without  this  simple  system  of  direction,  in  which  the 
diagonal  line  of  the  head  which  is  inclined,  but  still  seen  full  face,  marks 
the  only  deviation.  The  atmosphere  of  Perugino  still  breathes  from  this 
tranquil  picture.  At  Florence  something  more  was  demanded,  greater 
freedom  and  more  vigorous  movement.  The  rectangular  disposition  of  the 
seated  Child  is  discarded  in  the  Casa  Tempi  Madonna  at  Munich,  and  is 
as  a  rule  superseded  by  a  half-recumbent  posture  ;  the  Child  has  turned 
round  and  throws  his  limbs  vigorously  about  {Orleans  and  Bridgewater 
Madonnas) ;  the  Mother  is  no  longer  standing  but  seated,  and  as  she  bends 
forward  and  then  again  turns  aside,  the  picture  becomes  at  once  rich  in 
axes  of  direction.  Prom  the  Granduca  and  the  Tempi  there  is  a  regular 
progressive  development  to  the  Sedia  (Pitti),  in  which  the  little  St.  John 


RAPHAEL 


87 


The  Madonna  della  Sedia ;  by  Raphael, 


first  appears,  thus  giving 
scope  for  the  utmost 
wealth  of  plastic  effect 
by  the  play  of  limbs  and 
depth  of  treatment ;  and 
these  are  the  more  strik- 
ing owing  to  the  com- 
pression of  the  group, 
which  is  adapted  to  a 
closely  fitting  frame. 

Quite  analogous  is  the 
development  of  a  second 
theme,  that  of  the  full- 
length  Madonna  with 
Jesus  and  St.  John. 
Raphael  first  timidly  con- 
structed the  simple,  deli- 
cately-outlined pjramid 
of  the  Madonna  del  Car- 

delUno  (in  the  Uffizi),  where  the  children  stand  symmetrically  on  each  side 
of  the  seated  Virgin.  This  is  a  composition  on  the  lines  of  the  equilateral 
triangle.  The  lines  are  drawn  with  a  delicacy  of  feeling  unknown  in 
Florence,  and  the  proportions  of  the  figures  are  balanced  with  all  the 
accuracy  of  the  goldsmith's  scales.  Why  does  the  Virgin's  robe  slip  from 
her  shoulder?  To  prepare  for  the  projection  of  the  book  in  the  silhouette  ; 
by  this  device  the  line  glides  downwards  in  a  harmonious  rhythm. 
Gradually  the  master  feels  the  need  of  more  movement.  The  children 
are  distinguished  more  clearly  ;  the  St.  John  is  made  to  kneel  down  {Belle 
Jardiniere  in  the  Louvre)  or  both  children  are  placed  on  one  side  {Madonna 
in  the  Meadoiv  at  Vienna).  At  the  same  time  the  Madonna  is  seated 
further  in  the  background,  so  that  the  figures  may  be  more  closely  knit, 
and  the  contrasts  of  direction  more  sharply  expressed,  till  at  last  a  picture 
is  evolved  of  the  marvellously  compressed  richness  seen  in  the  Casa  Alba 
Madonna  (at  St.  Petersburg),  which,  like  the  Madonna  della  Sedia,  belongs 
to  RaphaeFs  Roman  period.^  In  this  we  note  an  unmistakeable  reminiscence 

^  The  Madonna  icith  the  Diadem  (Louvre)  which  enjoj's  a  curious  popularity 
(engraving  by  F.  Weber)  shows  how  little  of  this  art  permeated  Raphael's  immediate 


88  THE   ART   OP   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


of  Leonardo's  Madonna 
with  St.  Anne  (in  the 
Louvre).^ 

A  still  richer  theme 
is  treated  in  the  Holy 
Families  in  the  style  of 
the  Madonna  della  Casa 
Canigian'i  at  Munich,  in 
which  Mary,  Joseph,  and 
the  mother  of  St.  John 
are  collected  round  the 
two  children,  i.e.  a  group 
of  five  figures  had  to  be 
arranged.  Here  again 
the  first  solution  of  the 
problem  was  a  simply  con- 
structed pyramid.  The 
two  kneeling  women  who 
hold  the  children  between 
them  form  the  base,  and 
the  standing  figure  of 
Joseph  the  apex.  The 

Tlie  Madonna  del  Cardellino,  by  Raphael.  Camgiani  Madonna  is  a 

masterpiece  of  composi- 
tion, far  beyond  the  powers  of  a  Perugino.  It  has  the  Umbrian  trans- 
parency and  clearness,  and  is  instinct  Avith  the  Florentine  wealth  of 
movement.  Raphael's  Roman  development  was  in  the  direction  of  solid 
effects  and  strong  contrasts.  An  instructive  antithesis  of  the  later  Roman 
period  might  be  found  in  the  Madonna  del  divin  Amove  (Xaples),  which, 
though  not  original  in  execution,  affords  a  thorough  illustration  of  the  new 
ideas."^  The  typical  changes  are,  that  the  former  equilateral  triangle  has  de- 
circle.  The  coarse  motive  of  the  Madonna,  the  awkwardness  of  the  posture  and  the  move- 
ment of  the  hand  preclude  all  idea  of  an  original  composition.  (According  to  Dollmayr 
the  picture  is  by  G.  F.  Penni. ) 

^  Cf.  the  almost  identical  circular  composition  of  the  so-called  Madonna  del  Lago  of 
the  school  of  Leonardo.    The  engraving  by  G.  Longhi  is  well  known. 

^  Dollmayr  [Jahrhuch  der  Sammlungen  des  AUerhochsten  Kaiserhames,  1895)  assigns  the 
picture  both  as  regards  execution  and  design  to  G.  F.  Penni  {II  Fattore). 


RAPHAEL 


89 


veloped  unequal  sides,  that  the  apex 
has  been  considerably  lowered,  and 
that  what  was  formerly  light  and 
limpid  has  become  ponderous  and 
heavy.  The  two  women  now  sit 
together  on  one  side,  and  Joseph, 
an  isolated  figure,  thrust  far  into 
the  background,  balances  the  com- 
position on  the  other  side. 

In  the  Madonna  of  Francis  I. 
(Louvre),  a  picture  with  many 
figures,  the  construction  of  a  group 
is  definitely  abandoned,  and  in  its 

place    we    have    a    picturesque     re-  The  Madonna  della  Casa  Alba,  by  Raphael. 

presentation    of    intricate  masses 

which  negatives  any  sort  of  comparison  with  the  earlier  compositions.^ 
Finally,  the  Florentine  Raphael  gave  us  his  conception  of  the  Madonna 
enthroned,  and  surrounded  by  Saints,  in  his  large  altar-piece,  the  Madonna 
del  Baldacchino.  The  simplicity  of  Perugino  is  here  blended  with  motives 
in  the  style  of  Fra  Bartolonnneo,  that  mighty  personality  who  of  all  the 
Florentines  approached  Raphael  the  most  closely.  The  plainness  of  the 
throne  is  quite  in  the  manner  of  Perugino.  The  magnificent  firmly 
modelled  figure  of  St.  Peter,  on  the  other  hand,  is  clearly  due  to  the 
influence  of  Fra  Bartolommeo.  A  complete  estimate  of  the  picture  would 
have  to  take  into  account  not  only  these  two  factors,  but  the  additions 
made  much  later  in  Rome,  i.e.  the  angels  above  the  Madonna,  probably 
all  the  architecture  in  the  background,  and  certainly  the  extensive  addition 
to  the  height  of  the  picture.^  Roman  taste  required  more  space.  If 
Raphael  had  been  given  a  completely  free  hand,  he  would  have  brought 
the  two  pairs  of  Saints  into  closer  groups,  would  have  placed  the  Madonna 
lower  down,  and  would  have  given  a  more  compact  form  to  the  combined 
figures.    A  comparison  that  may  be  made  on  the  spot,  in  the  Palazzo 

^  Dollmaj^r  is  inclined  to  believe  that  Raphael  designed  at  least  the  group  with  the 
Virgin.    Penni  and  Giulio  Romano  may  have  shared  the  execution. 

The  St.  Augustine  appears  to  have  been  added  by  an  inferior  hand.  On  the  other 
hand  the  boy-angels  certainly  belonged  to  the  original  picture,  (This  point  is  disputed, 
e.g.  in  the  Cicerone.) 


1 


90  THE   ART   OF   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


Pitti,  will  clearly  show  how  the  taste  of  a  decade  later  would  have  decided 
these  questions.  It  is  only  necessary  to  compare  RaphaeFs  picture  with 
Fra  Bartolonnneo's  Risen  Christ  xcith  the  four  Evangelists.  This  is  at 
once  simpler  and  richer,  more  diversified  and  more  homogeneous.  In 
making  the  comparison  we  shall  also  feel  that  the  maturer  Raphael  would 
not  have  introduced  the  two  nude  boy-angels  standing  before  the  throne, 
charming  as  they  are.  There  are  sufficient  vertical  lines  in  the  picture ; 
lines  of  contrast  are  required ;  and  therefore  the  boys  are  seated  in  Fra 
Bartolommeo's  work. 

3.  The  Camera  della  Segxatura 

It  was  fortunate  for  Raphael  that  no  subjects  of  a  dramatic  nature 
were  required  from  him  at  the  beginning  of  his  sojourn  in  Rome.  His 
task  was  to  paint  calm  assemblies  of  philosophers,  pictures  of  peaceful 
intercourse,  Avhere  all  depended  on  the  artist's  inventiveness  in  the  treat- 
ment of  simple  movements  and  his  delicacy  of  arrangement.  These  were 
undertakings  peculiarly  suited  to  his  talents.  He  could  now  display  on  a 
large  scale  that  appreciation  of  harmonious  outline  and  proportion  which 
he  had  developed  in  the  composition  of  his  Madonnas.  He  found  in 
the  Dispiita  and  the  School  of'  Athens  scope  for  that  skill  in  the  filling  of 
spaces  and  grouping  of  figures  which  formed  the  basis  of  his  later  dramatic 
paintings. 

It  is  difficult  for  the  modern  public  to  do  justice  to  the  artistic  qualities 
of  these  frescoes.  It  looks  for  the  merit  of  the  works  in  the  expression  of 
the  heads,  in  the  thoughtful  relation  of  one  figure  to  the  other.  The 
traveller  wishes  above  all  to  learn  what  the  figures  mean,  and  is  not 
satisfied  until  he  knows  their  names.  He  therefore  listens  gratefully  to 
the  information  given  by  the  guide,  who  knows  the  name  of  each  person, 
and  is  convinced  that  he  understands  the  picture  better  after  receiving 
this  information.  Many  people  are  quite  satisfied  with  this,  while  some 
more  conscientious  visitors  try  to  realise  thoroughly  the  expression  of  the 
heads,  and  rivet  their  attention  on  the  features.  Few  are  able  to  grasp 
the  movement  of  the  figures  as  a  whole  in  addition  to  studying  the  faces, 
and  to  appreciate  the  beauty  of  motive  in  the  various  postures  of  the 
leaning,  standing,  or  sitting  figures.  Still  fewer  have  any  suspicion  that 
the  real  value  of  these  works  does  not  lie  in  the  details  but  in  the  arrange- 


91 


ment  of  the  whole,  in  the  harmonious  animation  of  the  space.  They  are 
decorative  Avorks  of  the  grandest  style,  decorative,  however,  in  a  sense 
other  than  that  in  which  the  word  is  commonly  used  ;  I  mean  that  they 
are  paintings  where  the  chief  accent  is  laid  not  on  the  individual  head, 
or  the  psychological  connection,  but  on  the  arrangement  of  the  figures 
upon  a  given  surface,  and  in  their  relative  positions  in  the  space.  Raphael 
had  a  stronger  instinct  for  all  that  pleases  the  human  eye  than  any  painter 
before  him.  A  profound  knowledge  of  history  is  not  essential  to  the 
comprehension  of  these  frescoes.^  The  subjects  are  familiar  ones,  and 
it  is  a  mistake  to  try  and  find  any  expression  of  abstruse  philosophical  or 
historical  ideas  in  the  School  of  Athens^  or  an  epitome  of  ecclesiastical 
history  in  the  Disputa.  Where  Raphael  wished  to  be  distinctly  under- 
stood, he  added  inscriptions,  but  such  cases  are  few.  We  are  left  without 
explanation  even  of  the  chief  figures,  the  very  pillars  of  the  composition. 
The  contemporaries  of  Raphael  did  not  ask  for  such  explanations.  The 
material  or  spiritual  motives  of  action  seemed  to  them  everything ;  the 
names  were  unimportant.  No  questions  were  asked  as  to  the  meaning  of 
the  figures.    Men  took  them  as  they  were. 

To  share  such  a  point  of  view  as  this  a  sensitiveness  of  eye  is  necessary, 
rarely  found  in  modern  days,  and  it  is  peculiarly  hard  for  the  Germanic 
races  to  appreciate  fully  the  importance  attached  by  the  Roman  to  physical 
deportment  and  bearing.  The  northern  traveller  must  not  therefore  become 
prematurely  impatient  if  he  finds  himself  forced  to  repress  a  feeling  of 
disappointment  in  this  place,  where  he  expected  to  see  a  representation  of 
the  highest  spiritual  forces.  Rembrandt  would  certainly  have  painted 
Philosophy  differently. 

Anyone  who  honestly  intends  to  enter  closely  into  the  spirit  of  these 
paintings  will  find  that  the  only  method  is  to  analyse  each  figure  separately, 
learning  it  by  heart,  and  then  noticing  the  chain  of  connection,  how 
each  link  presupposes  and  requires  another.  This  advice  has  already  been 
given  in  the  Cicerone.  Probably  few  have  followed  it,  travellers  cannot 
spare  the  time.  Much  practice  is  needed  before  any  firm  footing  is  to  be 
found.  Our  power  of  vision  has  become  so  superficial  through  its  dealings 
with  the  mass  of  illustrative  painting  of  the  day,  the  end  and  aim  of  Avhich 
is  a  vague  general  impression,  that  when  dealing  with  such  works  of  the 
old  masters  we  have  to  spell  out  the  rudiments. 

1  Cf.  Wickhoff's  lucid  essay  [Jahrh.  der  K.  Preu.ss.  Kuiutsammhmgen,  1893). 


92  THE    ART   OP   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


The  Djsputa 

The  four  Doctors  of  the  Church  to  whom  the  formulation  of  the 
dogma  is  referred,  Jerome,  Gregory,  Ambrose  and  Augustine  are  seated 
round  an  altar  on  which  is  a  monstrance.  The  faithful  are  grouped 
around  ;  dignified  divines,  standing  in  calm  meditation  ;  fiery  youths  impetu- 
ous in  prayer  and  praise.  On  the  one  hand  reading,  on  the  other  demon- 
stration. Nameless  figures  and  famous  types  are  assembled  in  close  juxta- 
position. A  place  of  honour  is  reserved  for  Pope  Sixtus  IV^,  uncle  of  the 
reigning  Pope. 

That  is  the  earthly  scene.  But  above  it  the  Persons  of  the  Trinity  are 
enthroned  and  with  them  in  a  wide  semicircle  sit  a  band  of  saints.  At 
the  top  are  hovering  angels  in  parallel  lines.  Christ,  seated  and  showing 
His  wounds,  dominates  the  whole.  The  Virgin  and  St.  John  attend  Him. 
Over  Him  is  God  the  Father  in  the  act  of  benediction,  beneath  Him,  the 
dove.  Its  head  is  the  exact  centre  of  the  vertical  axis  of  the  picture.  Vasari 
calls  the  picture  La  Disputa  del  sant'issimo  Sacramento  and  the  name  has 
survived  to  the  present  time,  inappropriate  as  it  is.  There  is  no  disputa- 
tion in  this  assembly,  hardly  any  speech.  It  is  intended  to  represent 
the  profoundest  certainty,  the  assured  presence  of  the  supreme  secret  of 
the  church,  confirmed  by  the  manifestation  of  the  Divine  Persons 
themselves. 

Let  us  try  to  realise  how  the  problem  would  have  been  solved  in  the  spirit 
of  the  earlier  school.  The  elements  demanded  had  furnished  the  theme  of 
innumerable  altar-pictures :  a  number  of  holy  men  tranquilly  co-existent, 
and  above  them  the  denizens  of  HePvVen,  calm  as  the  moon  above  the  forest. 
Raphael  saw  at  once  that  mere  motives  of  standing  or  sitting  would  be 
inadequate.  The  tranquil  community  must  be  replaced  by  an  assembly 
with  movement,  and  a  more  vigorous  activity.  He  first  differentiated  the 
four  figures  of  the  main  group  (the  Doctors  of  the  Church)  by  the  motives 
of  reading,  contemplation,  rapture  and  dictation.  He  created  the  fine 
group  of  the  impetuous  youths,  and  so  obtained  a  contrast  to  the  peaceful 
aspect  of  the  standing  divines.  The  emotion  portrayed  is  echoed  in  a 
more  subdued  fashion  in  the  pathetic  figure  in  front  at  the  altar  steps,  turn- 
ing his  back  to  the  spectator.  As  a  contrast  to  this.  Pope  Sixtus  stands  on 
the  other  side,  calm  and  confident,  looking  to  the  front  with  uplifted  head, 
the  true  prince  of  the  church.    Behind  him  is  a  purely  secular  motive  :  a 


RAPHAEL 


93 


lad  leaning  over  the  balustrade,  to  whom  a  bystander  points  out  the  Pope.^ 
Opposite  in  the  other  corner  of  the  picture  is  the  same  motive  reversed,  a 
youth  who  invites  the  attention  of  an  old  man.  The  old  man  stands 
bending  over  a  book  on  a  balustrade,  others  are  looking  at  it,  and  he 
seems  to  be  expounding  the  contents.  The  youth,  however,  invites  him  to 
go  up  to  the  altar  in  the  middle  to  which  all  are  pressing.  It  may  be  said 
that  Raphael  wished  to  depict  here  heterodoxy  or  sectarianism,^  but  each 
person  in  the  composition  was  certainly  not  determined  beforehand  with 
such  precision,  and  the  motive  in  itself  can  hardly  have  figured  in  the 
programme  prescribed  to  Raphael.  He  had  to  introduce  the  Doctors  of 
the  Church,  Pope  Sixtus,  and  other  celebrities  of  popular  interest.  This  he 
did,  but  in  other  respects  he  retained  absolute  freedom,  and  was  able  to 
work  out  the  motives  he  required  in  anonymous  figures.  This  then  is  the 
kernel  of  the  matter.  The  significance  of  the  work  does  not  lie  in  its 
details,  but  in  its  general  composition,  and  justice  can  only  be  done  to  it, 
when  it  is  understood  that  every  separate  part  serves  to  help  the  general 
effect  and  is  designed  with  due  regard  to  the  whole. 

But  let  none  feel  disappointed  at  the  conclusion  that  the  psychological 
aspect  is  not  the  most  interesting  factor  here.  Ghirlandajo  would  have  given 
his  heads  more  individuality,  and  Botticelli  would  have  been  more  convinc- 
ing in  the  expression  of  religious  feeling.  No  single  figure  here  could  be  put 
on  a  level  with  the  St.  Augustine  in  the  Ognissanti.  Raphael's  work  is  on 
a  different  plane  ;  to  paint  a  picture  of  such  dimensions,  with  such  depth, 
such  wealth  of  action,  yet  clear  in  its  development  and  harmonious  in  every 
component  part,  was  an  unprecedented  achievement.  The  first  problem  of 
composition  was  in  connection  with  the  Doctors  of  the  Church.  These 
constituted  the  chief  group  and  had  to  be  brought  into  due  prominence. 
If  the  figures  were  to  be  large,  they  could  not  be  placed  too  far  back,  but  on 
the  other  hand,  if  this  condition  had  been  observed  the  picture  would  have 
become  a  mere  strip.  After  some  preliminary  hesitation,  Raphael,  in  order 
to  give  depth  to  the  picture,  ventured  to  remove  the  Fathers  of  the  Church 
to  the  background,  raising  them  on  a  step.  By  this  expedient  the  com- 
position was  started  upon  the  happiest  course.    The  idea  of  the  step  proved 

^  As  has  been  often  observed,  the  figure  of  the  pointing  man  comes  from  Leonardo's 
Adoration  of  the  Magi,  where  it  appears  in  a  similar  place. 

2  Cf.  a  similar  group  in  Filippino's  picture  The  Triiim2:)h  of  St.  Thomas  (S.  Maria 
sopra  Minerva). 


94  THE    ART   OP   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


most  fertile:  all  the  figures  join  hands  to  some  extent  and  lead  up  to  the 
centre  of  the  picture.  A  further  result  was  achieved  by  the  addition  of  the 
gesticulating  men  on  the  further  side  of  the  altar ;  they  are  placed  there 
in  order  to  call  attention  to  Jerome  and  Ambrose,  who  are  sitting  at 
the  back.^ 

There  is  a  distinct  trend  from  the  left  side  to  the  centre  of  the  picture. 
The  young  man  who  is  pointing,  the  praying  figures,  and  the  pathetic  figure 
seen  from  behind  combine  to  produce  a  sum  of  uniform  action  which  readily 
attracts  the  eye.  Later  in  his  career  Raphael  continued  to  show  this  same 
attention  to  the  guidance  of  the  spectator's  eye.  If  then  the  last  of  the 
central  figures,  Augustine,  who  is  dictating,  has  turned  round,  the  object 
of  this  posture  is  apparent  :  it  is  intended  to  be  the  coimecting  link  with 
the  right  side,  where  movement  becomes  quiescent.  Such  considerations  of 
form  are  complete  innovations  on  the  methods  of  the  fifteenth  century. 
In  other  respects  Raphael  has  presented  the  Fathers  of  the  Church  in  the 
most  simple  aspects.  A  lowered  profile  and  a  raised  profile  differentiate 
the  first  two  figures,  while  the  third  shows  but  a  slight  divergence  of 
attitude.  They  are  also  seated  as  naturally  as  possible.  This  is  his  system. 
The  remoter  figures,  if  they  are  to  produce  the  effect  of  size,  admit  of  no 
other  treatment.  A  Quattrocento  picture  like  Filippino's  Triumph  of 
St.  Thomas  fails  in  this  very  respect. 

The  action  is  more  diversified  as  the  figures  approach  the  foreground. 
The  most  varied  movements  are  presented  by  the  bending  figures  with 
their  companions  in  the  corners.  These  corner-groups  are  arranged  sym- 
metrically, and  are  similarly  connected  with  the  more  central  personages 
by  pointing  figures.^  Symmetry  pervades  the  whole  picture,  but  is  every- 
where more  or  less  disguised  in  particular  cases.  The  greatest  divergences 
exist  in  the  middle  zone.  Even  here  however  there  are  no  violent  disloca- 
tions. Raphael  still  proceeds  cautiously,  he  wishes  to  combine  and  to  calm, 
not  to  agitate  and  tear  asunder.    The  lines  are  drawn  with  a  delicacy  of 

^  They  were  an  afterthought. 

^  The  motive  of  the  f)arapet  is  due  on  the  one  side  to  the  gap  caused  by  a  door,  which 
Raphael  tried  to  remedy  by  building  a  little  wall  above  it.  He  then  repeats  the  motive  on 
the  other  side  as  a  balustrade.  The  advanced  Cinquecentists  could  not  tolerate  such 
encroachments  in  a  picture.  In  the  Hdiodorus  room  therefore  the  ground-line  of  the 
picture  is  taken  at  the  height  of  the  lintel  of  the  door.  It  is  characteristic  of  Venice  that 
Titian  in  his  Premifation  of  the  Virgin  did  not  hesitate  to  sacrifice  the  lower  limbs  of  some 
figures  to  a  door.    Such  a  solecism  would  liave  been  impossible  in  Rome. 


95 


feeling  that  might  be  called  reverent,  so  that  no  one  jars  on  the  other,  and 
amidst  all  the  prevailing  abundance  the  impression  of  tranquillitv 
predominates.  The  two  portions  of  the  assembly  are  united  by  the  line 
of  the  landscape  in  the  background  and  harmonised  with  the  upper  belt  of 
fimu-es  with  a  like  intention. 

o 

Throughout  this  system  of  tranquil  lines  a  higher  object  is  kept  in  view 
in  the  individual  distinctness  which  Raphael  gives  to  every  person.  Where 
the  earlier  masters  crowded  their  figures  together,  and  placed  one  head 
behind  another,  the  artist  mIio  had  been  educated  in  the  simplicity  of 
Perugino  separated  his  figures  so  that  each  is  clearly  perceptible.  Here 
again  a  uoxel  regard  for  the  eye  of  the  spectator  determines  the  treatment. 
The  treatment  of  masses  of  figures  by  Botticelli  or  Filippino  required  a 
concentrated  examination  at  close  quarters,  if  one  really  w  ished  to  grasp 
any  particular  point  of  the  surging  mass.  The  first  requirement  of  the 
Art  of  the  sixteenth  century,  which  rivets  attention  on  the  whole,  was 
simplification. 

Such  qualities  as  these  determine  the  value  of  the  Avork,  and  not  its 
details  of  draughtmanship.  No  one  will  be  able  to  deny  that  the  compo- 
sition contains  a  considerable  amount  of  essentially  new  movement.  ^VTuch 
of  it,  however,  is  still  timid  and  uncertain.  The  figure  of  Sixtus  is 
vague  in  its  effect.  It  is  not  clear  whether  he  is  moving  or  standing  still, 
and  it  takes  some  time  to  discover  that  he  is  propping  a  book  against  his 
knee.  The  pointing  youth  opposite  him  is  an  unfortunate  figure  derived 
from  a  motive  of  Leonardo's.  The  w  ant  of  character  in  the  heads,  when 
they  are  not  portraits,  has  an  unpleasant  effect.  We  hardly  venture  to 
think  how  the  picture  would  have  looked,  had  Leonardo  represented  the 
congregation  of  the  faithful  by  men  of  his  creation. 

But,  as  w^e  have  already  said,  the  great  qualities  of  RaphaeFs  Disputa 
and  the  real  conditions  of  its  effectiveness  are  the  general  motives.  The 
division  of  the  pictorial  surface  as  a  whole,  the  conduct  of  the  lower  figures, 
the  bold  sweep  of  the  upper  semi-circle  with  the  saints,  the  contrast  be- 
tween movement  and  stately  enthronement,  the  combination  of  richness 
and  repose  produce  a  picture  w^hich  has  often  been  praised  as  a  perfect 
example  of  the  monumental  religious  style.  Its  special  characteristic 
is  given  it  by  the  most  charming  commingling  of  youthful  timidity 
with  the  consciousness  of  dawning  power. 


96  THE    ART   OF   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


The  School  of  Athens 

Theology  has  its  antithesis  in  Philosophy,  the  pursuit  of  profane  know- 
ledge. The  name  given  to  the  next  fresco,  The  School  of  A  them',  is  almost 
as  fanciful  as  that  of  the  Disputa.  It  would  be  more  permissible,  indeed, 
to  call  this  a  Dispida,  for  the  central  motive  is  the  two  leaders  of 
philosophy,  Plato  and  Aristotle,  engaged  in  argument.  Row^s  of  atten- 
tive listeners  stand  around  them.  Socrates  is  near  them  with  his  own 
circle  of  scholars.  He  is  engaged  in  his  favourite  interrogation,  and  counts 
off  his  premisses  on  his  fingers.  Diogenes,  in  the  costume  of  one  who  has 
no  needs,  is  Iving  on  the  steps.  An  elderly  man  writing,  before  whom  is 
displayed  a  tablet  containing  the  musical  scale,  may  be  Pythagoras.  If  we 
name  Ptolemy  and  Zoroaster,  the  astronomers,  and  Euclid,  the  geome- 
trician, we  have  exhausted  the  historical  components  of  the  picture. 

The  difficulty  of  the  composition  w^as  greater  here,  because  of  the 
absence  of  the  heavenly  zone.  Raphael  was  driven  to  call  architecture  to 
his  aid.  He  constructed  an  immense  vaulted  hall,  and  placed  in  the  fore- 
ground a  flight  of  four  steps  which  extend  the  full  breadth  of  the  picture. 
He  thus  obtained  a  double  stage,  the  space  below  the  steps  and  the 
platform  above  them. 

In  contradistinction  to  the  Dlspiita,  where  all  the  parts  converge  to 
the  centre,  the  whole  picture  is  here  broken  up  into  a  number  of 
isolated  groups  and  even  isolated  figures.  This  is  the  natural  expression  of 
the  diversity  of  scientific  investigation.  Any  search  for  definite  historical 
allusions  is  as  misplaced  here  as  in  the  Disputa.  We  seem  to  divine  an 
illuminating  thought  in  the  manner  in  which  the  master  has  grouped  the 
physical  sciences  below^,  and  left  the  upper  space  free  for  speculative  philo- 
sophy ;  but  perhaps  even  this  interpretation  overshoots  the  mark.  The 
material  and  spiritual  motives  are  far  richer  here  than  in  the  Disputa.  The 
subject  required  a  greater  variety  of  treatment,  but  it  is  noticeable  that 
Raphael's  own  power  of  suggestion  had  developed.  The  situations  are 
more  clearly  defined,  the  gestures  more  significant.  It  is  easier  to  remember 
these  figures. 

Raphael's  treatment  of  the  group  of  Plato  and  Aristotle  is  especially 
noteworthy.  The  theme  w^as  no  new  one.  We  may  take,  for  comparison, 
Luca  della  Robbia's  relief  of  Ph'dosophj  on  the  Campanile  at  Florence. 
Two  Italians  are  engaged  in  a  hot  dispute  with  characteristic  southern 


RAPHAEL 


97 


energy.  The  one  insists  on  the  text  of  his  book,  the  other,  gesticulating 
with  all  his  ten  fingers,  shows  him  that  his  argument  is  absurd.  Other 
disputations  are  to  be  found  on  Donatello's  bronze  doors  at  St.  Lorenzo. 
Raphael  was  obliged  to  reject  all  these  motives.  The  taste  of  the  sixteenth 
century  insisted  on  reticence  of  gesture.  The  great  philosophers  stand 
side  by  side  in  dignified  composure ;  the  one  who  extends  his  arm  and 
stretches  his  outspread  hand  over  the  earth  is  Aristotle,  the  great  con- 
structor;  the  other,  Plato,  points  upwards  with  his  finger.  We  do  not 
know  whence  Raphael  gained  the  knowledge  that  enabled  him  to  bring 
out  the  distinctive  characteristics  of  the  two  philosophers  so  ably,  that 
these  two  figures  seem  to  us  credible  portraits. 

The  figures  which  stand  to  the  right  against  the  frame  are  also  full 
of  expression.  The  isolated  figure  with  the  white  beard,  wrapped  in  a 
cloak,  quite  simple  in  silhouette,  is  marked  by  a  grand  tranquillity.  Near 
him  another,  leaning  on  the  parapet,  looks  at  the  writing  boy,  who  sits 
bending  over  his  work,  with  legs  crossed,  facing  the  spectator.  It  is  by 
such  figures  that  the  progress  made  by  Raphael  must  be  estimated. 

The  motive  of  Diogenes'  recumbent  position  was  new.  It  is  that  of  the 
beggar  Avho  lies  lazily  on  the  steps  of  the  church. 

The  richness  of  detail  increases  more  and  more.  Not  only  is  the  scene 
of  the  geometrical  demonstration  excellently  conceived  from  the  psycho- 
logical point  of  view — not  only  are  the  different  degrees  of  intelligence  in 
the  scholars  well  contrasted — but  the  movements  of  kneeling  and  bending 
in  the  individual  characters  deserve  to  be  accurately  studied  and  impressed 
on  the  memory. 

The  Pythagoras  group  is  still  more  interesting.  A  man  writing,  in 
profile,  sitting  on  a  low  seat,  with  one  foot  on  a  stool,  and  behind  him 
other  figures,  pressing  forward  and  bending  over  ;  a  perfect  garland  of 
curves.  Then  a  second  scribe,  also  seated,  but  confronting  the  spectator, 
his  limbs  in  a  more  complicated  posture.  Between  the  two  a  standing 
figure,  who  holds  an  open  book  against  his  thigh  and  seems  to  be  quoting  a 
passage  from  it.  There  is  no  need  to  trouble  about  the  meaning  of  all 
this.  The  figure  was  not  a  link  in  a  spiritual  sequence  ;  it  owes  its  being 
to  its  material  motive.  The  upraised  foot,  the  outstretched  arm,  the 
turn  of  the  upper  part  of  the  body  and  the  contrasted  inclination  of  the 
head  give  it  a  distinctly  plastic  character.  If  the  northern  student  is  in- 
clined to  think  that  this  fertile  motive  has  been  introduced  too  artificially, 

H 


98  THE    ART   OF   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


he  must  be  warned  against  hasty  criticism.  The  Italian  has  so  much  more 
capacity  for  movement  than  we  have,  that  his  Hmits  of  the  natural  do  not 
coincide  with  ours.  Raphael  here  is  clearly  treading  in  the  steps  of 
Michelangelo,  and  in  following  that  stronger  will  he  has  temporarily 
abandoned  his  natural  tendency.^ 

We  need  not  limit  our  examination  to  the  individual  figures.  The 
motives  of  movement  that  Raphael  presents  here  and  there  are  a  minor 
achievement  compared  with  the  art  displayed  in  the  grouping.  Earlier 
Art  can  show  nothing  in  the  least  comparable  to  the  varied  arrangement 
of  these  figures.  The  group  of  geometricians  solves  a  problem  which 
very  few  have  essayed :  five  persons  facing  towards  one  point,  clearly 
developed,  "  pure''  in  line,  and  displaying  a  marvellous  variety  of  attitudes. 
The  same  may  be  said  of  the  group  opposite,  conceived  on  a  still  larger 
scale :  the  way  in  which  the  multiple  movements  complete  each  other,  in 
which  the  numerous  figures  are  brought  into  the  required  connection,  form- 
ing as  it  were  a  chorus  of  many  voices,  everything  appearing  natural  and 
inevitable,  is  a  proof  of  consummate  art.  If  we  look  at  the  construction  as  a 
whole,  we  shall  understand  what  place  the  youthful  figure  at  the  very  back 
has  in  this  company.  It  is  conjectured  to  be  a  portrait  of  some  prince — 
that  may  be,  but  its  formal  function  is  merely  to  supply  the  necessary 
vertical  line  in  the  tangle  of  curved  lines. 

As  in  the  Disjmta,  the  wealth  of  motives  has  been  brought  to  the  fore- 
ground. At  the  back  on  the  platform,  a  forest  of  perpendicular  lines ; 
in  the  foreground,  where  the  figures  are  large,  curved  lines  and  compli- 
cated groupings. 

Everything  round  the  central  figures  is  symmetrical  ;  then  the  tension 
relaxes,  and  on  one  side  the  upper  mass  itself  spreads  unsym metrically 
down  the  steps,  a  disturbance  of  the  equilibrium  which  is  rectified  by  the 
irregularity  of  the  groups  in  the  foreground.  It  is  certainly  astonishing 
that  in  this  crowd  the  figures  of  Plato  and  Aristotle  in  the  distant  back- 
ground produce  the  effect  of  being  the  chief  figures.  This  is  doubly 
incomprehensible,  if  we  notice  the  scale  of  size,  which  according  to  an 

1  The  ideas  borrowed  from  Donatello's  Paduan  reliefs  (cf.  Voge,  Raffael  und  Donatello, 
1896)  appear  in  such  subordinate  figures  that  they  seem  to  have  been  introduced  as  a  jest. 
In  any  case  there  is  no  question  of  borrowings  due  to  poverty  of  ideas  or  difficulties  of 
execution.  Koopmann  (i?q^ae/'s  Handzeichnungen,  1897,  p.  380  et  seq.)  has  attempted  to 
prove  on  remarkable  evidence  that  they  were  introduced  without  the  sanction  of  the  master. 
He  treats  the  matter  altogether  in  too  serious  a  spirit. 


99 


ideal  calculation,  diminishes  too  rapidly.  Thus  the  Diogenes  on  the 
steps  is  abruptly  drawn  on  a  scale  different  to  that  of  the  nearest  figures 
in  the  foreground.  The  marvel  is  explained  by  the  use  made  of  the 
architecture.  The  disputing  philosophers  stand  exactly  in  the  light  under 
the  last  arch.  Their  figures  would  be  lost,  but  for  this  halo,  which  finds 
an  effective  repetition  in  the  concentric  lines  of  the  nearer  vaulting. 
A  similar  motive,  it  may  be  remembered,  is  employed  in  Leonardo's 
Last  Supper.  If  the  architectonic  element  were  removed  the  whole  com- 
position would  fall  to  pieces. 

The  relation  of  the  figures  to  the  space  is  conceived  in  an  entirely  new 
spirit.  The  innnense  vaulted  roof  extends  far  above  the  heads  of  the 
persons,  and  the  tranquil,  solemn  atmosphere  of  this  atrium  communicates 
itself  to  the  spectator.  Bramante's  new  St.  Peter  s  was  designed  in  this 
spirit,  and  according  to  Vasari,  Bramante  should  be  considered  the  creator 
of  the  architecture  of  this  fresco.^ 

Parxassus 

It  may  be  imagined  that  Raphael  was  glad  not  to  find  himself  con- 
fronted with  a  similar  wall  for  the  third  task,  the  fresco  of  The  Poets. 
The  narrower  surface  here  with  the  window  in  the  middle  naturally 
suggested  new  ideas.    Raphael  surmovmted   the  window  with  a  hill,  a 

^  The  Disj^iUa  and  the  School  of  Athens  are  chiefly  known  in  Germany  by  engravings, 
and  the  profound  impression  of  space  giv^en  by  the  frescoes  is  reproduced  better  by  even  a 
superficial  engraving  than  by  any  photograph.  Volpato  in  the  eighteenth  century  engraved 
the  Stanze  in  a  set  of  seven  plates.  These  have  been  for  generations  the  mementoes  the 
traveller  brings  home  witli  him  from  Rome,  and  these  plates  are  not  to  be  despised  even 
now  that  Keller  and  Jacoby  have  essayed  the  task  with  other  eyes  and  different  means. 
Jos.  Keller's  Disputa,  which  appeared  1841-1856,  puts  all  earlier  reproductions  into  the 
shade  by  the  size  of  the  plate,  and,  while  Volpato  only  attempted  to  reproduce  the  general 
configuration,  the  pencil  of  the  German  explored  all  the  depths  of  Raphael's  individual 
manner.  He  places  his  figures  on  the  surface  clearly  and  firmly  with  strong  shadows.  He 
wishes  above  everything  to  be  distinct,  and  makes  no  attempt  to  reproduce  the  light 
tone  of  the  fresco.  Here  Jacoby  takes  up  the  task.  His  School  of  Athens  is  the  result  of 
ten  years'  work  (1872-1882).  The  layman  can  have  no  idea  what  an  amount  of  consideration 
it  required  to  find  equivalent  tones  for  each  colour- value  of  the  original  on  the  copper-plate, 
to  reproduce  the  softness  of  the  painting,  and  to  achieve  distinctness  while  retaining  the 
liglit  scale  of  tones  of  the  original.  The  engraving  was  an  unparalleled  achievement. 
Jacoby,  in  his  essay,  went  perhaps  altogether  beyond  the  limits  imposed  on  the  graphic 
arts  in  svich  cases.  There  are  still  many  amateurs  who  in  such  reductions  of  the  original 
prefer  the  abbreviated  expression  of  the  simple  old  line-engraving,  because  in  this  it  is 
easier  to  retain  some  trace  of  the  monumental  impression. 

H  2 


100  THE    ART   OF   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


veritable  Parnassus,  and  thus  obtained  two  small  foregrounds  below  and 
a  somewhat  broader  podium  at  the  top.  Here  Apollo  is  seated  with 
the  Muses.  Homer  too  is  there,  and  further  in  the  background  Dante 
and  Virgil  ^  are  recognisable.  The  other  poets  throng  the  slopes  of  the 
hill,  strolling  alone  or  standing  together  in  groups.  Here  a  desultory 
conversation  is  being  kept  up,  there  some  spirited  recitation  arrests 
attention.  As  the  composition  of  poetry  is  not  a  social  task,  it  was 
difficult  to  give  any  psychological  characteristics  to  a  group  of  poets. 
Raphael  confined  himself  to  giving  the  expression  of  inspiration  twice  ; 
to  Apollo,  who  is  playing  the  violin  and  looking  upwards  in  rapture,  and 
to  Homer,  who  is  reciting  in  poetic  frenzy  and  also  looking  heavenward, 
but  with  sightless  eyes.  Artistic  economics  required  a  diminution  of 
excitement  in  the  other  groups.  The  divine  madness  shows  itself  only 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  god.  Beneath,  we  are  amongst  mortals  like  our- 
selves. Here  again  we  do  not  feel  called  upon  to  give  any  definite  names. 
Sappho  is  pointed  out  by  an  inscription,  since  otherwise  no  one  would 
have  known  who  the  maiden  was.  Raphael  clearly  wanted  a  female 
figure  as  a  contrast.  Dante  is  insignificant,  almost  an  accessory. 
The  really  striking  figures  are  types  to  whom  no  names  are  assignable. 
Two  portraits  only  are  distinguishable  among  the  crowd ;  one,  quite  on 
the  edge  of  the  picture  to  the  right,  is  probably  Sannazaro ;  the  other, 
to  whom  Raphael  has  given  the  pose  of  his  portrait  of  himself,  has  not 
yet  been  satisfactorily  identified. 

Apollo  is  seated,  as  are  the  two  Muses  at  his  side.  He  is  painted  full- 
face,  while  the  Muses  are  in  profile.  They  thus  form  a  broad  triangle,  the 
centre  of  the  composition.  The  other  Muses  stand  about  in  the  back- 
ground. The  line  is  terminated  on  the  right  by  a  dignified  figure,  turned 
away  from  the  spectator,  and  balanced  by  the  full  face  of  the  Homer  on 
the  opposite  side.  These  two  forms  are  the  corner  pillars  of  the  Parnassian 
assembly.  This  grandly  constructed  group  resolves  itself  in  the  boy  at 
Homer's  feet,  who  transcribes  his  verses.  On  the  opposite  side  the 
composition  takes  an  unexpected  direction,  extending  into  the  background; 
the  man  next  to  the  female  figure,  turning  her  back,  is  only  three  parts 
visible ;  he  is  walking  from  the  farther  side  of  the  hill  into  the  picture. 

^  Virgil  is  no  longer  fantastically  arrayed,  with  a  pointed  crown,  as  Botticelli  still 
represented  liim,  but  in  the  antique  dress  of  the  Roman  poet.  Signorelli  was  the  first  to 
represent  him  thus.    (Orvieto).    Cf.  Volkmann,  Iconografia  Daiitesca,  S.  72. 


RAPHAEL 


101 


The  impression  of  this  movement  is  intensified  by  the  laurel-bushes 
which  appear  in  the  background.  Attentive  study  of  the  disposition  of 
the  trees  in  the  picture  will  show  how  important  their  share  in  it  is. 
They  introduce  a  diagonal  movement  into  the  composition  and  modify  the 
stiffness  of  the  svmmetrical  arrangement.  Were  it  not  for  the  trees  in  the 
centre,  Apollo  would  be  lost  among  the  Muses. 

A  contrast  between  the  groups  of  the  foreground  is  attained,  in  so  far 
as  the  left  group,  with  a  tree  as  its  focus,  appears  quite  isolated,  while 
on  the  right  the  connection  Avith  the  upper  figures  is  maintained.  There 
is  the  same  trend  of  movement  as  in  the  School  of  Athens. 

The  Parnassus  shows  less  beauty  of  space  than  the  other  pictures. 
There  is  a  sense  of  narrowness  and  crowding  on  the  hill,  and  few  of  the 
figures  are  convincing.  Too  many  of  them  suffer  from  a  certain  pettiness. 
The  most  unsuccessful  creations  are  the  Muses,  mere  shapes  who  are  none 
the  more  interesting  for  certain  details  taken  from  "antique""  art.  One  of 
the  seated  figures  imitates  Ariadne  in  her  draperv,  the  attitude  of  the  other 
might  be  traced  back  to  a  figure  like  that  of  the  so-called  "  Suppliant 
Woman."  The  exposure  of  the  shoidder,  a  motive  obtrusivelv  repeated,  is 
also  taken  from  the  antique.  If  onlv  Raphael  could  have  shown  us  more 
life-like  shoulders  !  In  spite  of  all  the  roundness  of  form  we  think  regret- 
fully of  Botticelli's  angular  Graces.  One  simple  touch  of  naturalism 
strikes  us,  that  is  the  neck  of  the  figure  standing  with  its  back  towards  us ; 
it  is  the  true  neck  of  a  Roman  woman.  The  best  figures  are  the  absolutely 
simple  ones.  The  contorted  Sappho  shows  to  what  preposterous  inventions 
the  desire  to  be  interestino;  in  movement  could  lead  the  artist.  Here 
Raphael  momentarilv  lost  his  way,  and  entered  into  competition  with 
Michelangelo  without  properly  understanding  him.  We  need  but  compare 
one  of  the  Sistine  Sibyls  with  this  unfortunate  poetess  to  appreciate  the 
difference. 

Another  tour-de-force^  M'hich  we  do  not  wish  to  censure,  is  the  sharp 
foreshortening  of  the  arm  of  the  man  who  is  pointing  to  the  front.  Every 
artist  of  that  day  had  to  solve  problems  of  this  sort.  Michelangelo 
expressed  his  opinion  on  the  subject  in  his  figure  of  God  Almighty  creating 
the  sun. 

Something  must  now  be  said  of  a  peculiarity  in  the  calculation  of 
space  in  the  picture.  It  is  apparent  that  the  Sappho  and  the  figure 
corresponding  to  her  project  over  the  frame  of  the  window.    This  effect  is 


102  THE    ART   OF   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


unpleasant,  because  the  figures  thus  seem  to  leave  the  flat  surface.  It  is 
difficult  to  understand  how  Raphael  could  have  perpetuated  such  a 
brutality.  The  truth  is  that  he  calculated  quite  otherwise.  He  thought 
that,  by  means  of  the  archway,  painted  in  perspective,  which  encircles  the 
picture,  he  would  be  able  to  push  the  window  back,  and  give  the  impres- 
sion that  it  was  somewhere  in  the  background  of  the  picture.  This 
calculation  was  false,  and  Raphael  never  again  made  a  similar  attempt. 
Modern  engravers  have  however  intensified  the  mistake,  by  engraving  the 
picture  without  the  outside  border,  which  alone  explains  the  arrangement 
of  the  space.^ 

Jurisprudence 

Raphael  was  spared  the  task  of  painting  an  assembly  of  Jurists.  For 
the  fourth  wall  only  two  small  ceremonial  scenes  from  legal  history  were 
required  at  the  sides  of  the  window,  and  over  it,  in  the  filling  of  the 
arch,  are  the  sitting  figures  of  Fortitude,  Prudence,  and  Temperance,  the 
virtues  necessary  for  the  administration  of  the  law. 

As  an  expression  of  the  virtues  they  are  intended  to  typify,  these 
symbolic  figures  will  rouse  but  faint  enthusiasm.  They  are  uninteresting 
female  figures,  the  two  outside  ones  animated  in  gesture,  the  other  calmer. 
They  are  all  placed  low  down,  in  order  to  secure  ampler  motives  of 
movement.  Temperance  is  seen  to  raise  her  bit  and  bridle  with  incom- 
prehensible deliberation.  In  her  general  action  she  is  a  pendant  to  the 
Sappho  in  the  Parnassus.  The  turn  of  the  upper  part  of  the  body,  the 
outstretched  arms,  and  the  posture  of  the  legs  are  similar.  She  is  however 
drawn  on  a  better  and  larger  scale  and  is  more  compact.  The  increasing 
strength  of  style  is  well  seen  here.  The  Prudence,  the  repose  of  which  is 
in  itself  pleasant,  further  possesses  great  beauty  of  line.  In  the  drawing 
it  shows  a  higher  conception  of  clarity  than  the  Parnassus.  We  may 
compare  the  arm  on  which  the  figure  leans  with  the  same  motive  in  the 

^  The  grisaille  under  the  Parnassus  cannot  in  my  opinion  be  considered  as  co-temporary 
with  the  other  paintings  in  the  room.  As  opposed  to  tlie  new  interpretation  of  them  lately 
propounded  by  WickhofF,  the  older  reading,  which  takes  them  to  represent  Augustus 
preventing  the  burning  of  the  ^Eneid,  and  Alexander  hiding  Homer's  poems  in  a  coffin, 
seems  still  to  have  its  advantages,  since  the  gestures  at  least  cannot  be  otherwise  accounted 
for.  There  is  no  burning  of  books  represented,  but  a  prevention  of  the  act,  and  the 
documents  are  being  placed  in  a  sarcophagus,  not  taken  out.  Every  unprejudiced  observer 
will,  in  my  opinion,  come  to  this  conclusion. 


i 


RAPHAEL 


103 


Muse  to  the  left  of  Apollo,  where  the  meaning  of  the  attitude  is  not  well 
expressed.  From  this  point  there  is  gradual  development,  culminating  in 
the  Sibyls  in  S.  Maria  della  Pace  :  there  is  an  enormous  addition  to  the 
wealth  of  action,  and  a  similar  progress  in  lucidity  of  motive.  The  third 
of  the  Sibyls  must  be  specially  mentioned  in  this  connection.  How 
convincinglv  are  the  structural  elements  worked  out  in  the  head,  the 
neck,  and  the  turn  of  the  elbow. 

The  Sibyls  are  placed  upon  a  dark  background  of  tapestry,  while  the 
legal  Virtues  stand  out  against  a  brilliantly  blue  sky.  This  is  an  essential 
mark  of  the  difference  of  style. 

The  two  scenes  from  the  history  of  Jurisprudence,  the  delivery  of  the 
secular  and  the  ecclesiastical  codes,  are  interesting  as  the  representation  of 
a  ceremonial  function  in  the  spirit  of  the  dawning  sixteenth  century.  But 
it  is  also  surprising  to  see  here,  just  where  the  Dispida  joins  on,  how 
Raphael  at  the  close  of  his  labours  in  the  Camera  della  Segnatura,  began 
to  work  with  greater  breadth  and  repose,  and  how,  even  in  the  size  of  his 
figures,  he  had  far  exceeded  the  original  scale.  It  is  a  pity  that  the  room 
no  longer  has  its  old  wood  panelling.  The  effect  would  at  any  rate  be 
more  restful  than  at  present,  with  the  white  standing  figures  painted  on 
the  plinth.  There  is  ahvavs  some  danger  in  placing  figures  below  figures. 
The  motive  is  repeated  in  the  following  rooms.  It  is  far  more  endurable 
where  it  is  part  of  the  original  arrangement,  since  these  plastically  treated 
Caryatides  form  a  distinct  contrast  to  the  picturesque  style  of  the 
paintings.  It  may  be  said  that  it  is  largely  due  to  them  that  the 
pictures  look  like  paintings,  since  they  drive  them  back  to  the  flat  surface. 
But  this  relation  does  not  exist  in  the  first  room,  where  the  style  is  still 
far  from  picturesque. 

4.  The  Cai^iera  d'Eliodouo 

Leaving  the  emblematic  pictures  of  the  Camera  della  Segnatura  we 
enter  the  room  of  the  historical  frescoes.  More  than  this  :  It  is  also  the 
room  of  the  new  grand  pictorial  style.  The  figures  are  larger  in  size,  and 
more  imposingly  plastic  in  effect.  It  looks  as  if  a  hole  had  been  made  in 
the  wall.  The  figures  stand  out  from  a  deep  and  dark  recess,  and  the 
enframing  mouldings  are  treated  with  painted  shadows  that  give  a  plastic 
illusion.    If  we  look  back  at  the  Disputa,  it  appears  like  a  piece  of 


104  THE    ART   OF   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


tapestry,  flat  and  light.  The  paintings  contain  less,  but  this  less  produces 
a  more  striking  effect.  There  are  no  artificial  and  subtle  configurations, 
but  imposing  masses  strongly  contrasted.  No  trace  is  left  of  specious 
daintiness,  no  display  of  attitudinising  philosophers  and  poets.  In  place 
of  this,  there  is  abundance  of  passion  and  expressive  movement.  The  first 
apartment  will  al\\'ays  rank  higher  as  decorative  art,  but  in  the  Stanza  of 
Heliodorus  Raphael  has  provided  a  model  of  monumental  narrative  for  all 
time. 

The  Chastisement  of  Heliodorus 

AVe  read  in  the  second  book  of  the  Maccabees  how  the  Syrian  general, 
Heliodorus,  set  out  for  Jerusalem,  at  the  command  of  his  king,  to  carry  off 
from  the  temple  the  money  belonging  to  the  widows  and  orphans.  The 
women  and  children,  thus  threatened  with  the  loss  of  their  property,  ran 
weeping  about  the  streets.  The  High  Priest,  pale  with  fear,  prayed  before 
the  altar.  No  representations  or  entreaties  could  deter  Heliodorus  from 
his  purpose.  He  broke  into  the  treasury  and  emptied  the  coffers.  Then 
suddenly  a  heavenly  horseman,  in  golden  armour,  appeared  and  hurled  the 
robber  to  the  ground,  trampling  him  beneath  his  horse's  hoofs,  while  two 
yoLiths  scourged  him  with  rods. 

This  is  the  received  story.  Raphael  has  combined  the  various  incidents 
into  one  picture,  not  in  the  manner  of  the  old  painters,  who  did  not 
hesitate  to  place  different  scenes  in  close  juxtaposition,  but  without 
violating  the  unities  of  time  and  place.  He  does  not  give  the  scene  in 
the  treasury,  but  shows  Heliodorus  in  the  act  of  leaving  the  temple  laden 
with  the  plunder.  He  introduces  the  women  and  children,  who  are 
described  as  running  screaming  through  the  streets,  into  the  same  place, 
and  makes  them  witnesses  of  the  divine  interposition.  The  High  Priest, 
who  prays  to  God  for  help,  naturally  finds  a  place  in  the  picture. 

The  greatest  surprise  for  the  public  of  the  day  Mas  the  way  in  which 
Raphael  arranged  his  scenes.  It  was  customary  to  find  the  chief  action 
in  the  middle  of  the  picture,  but  here  there  is  a  great  empty  space  in  the 
centre  and  the  culminating  scene  is  pushed  away  to  the  extreme  edge  of 
the  picture.  At  the  present  day  we  can  hardly  adequately  appreciate  the 
impression  produced  by  such  a  composition,  for  M  e  have  since  been  educated 
to  accept  very  different  manifestations  of  "  formlessness.""     People  then 


RAPHAEL 


105 


must  have  really  believed  that  they  saw  the  story  taking  place  under  their 
very  eyes,  with  all  the  suddenness  of  miracle. 

In  addition  to  this,  the  scene  of  the  punishment  is  Avorked  out  on  new 
dramatic  laws.  The  way  in  which  the  Quattrocento  would  have  told  the 
story  is  obvious.  Heliodorus  would  lie  bleeding  under  the  horse's  hoofs, 
and  the  youths,  one  on  each  side,  would  be  striking  him  Avith  their 
scourges.^  Raphael  depicts  the  moment  of  suspense.  The  evil-doer  has 
just  been  thrown  down,  the  rider  wheels  his  horse  in  order  to  trample  him. 
The  youths  are  onlv  just  rushing  forward  with  the  rods.  Giulio  Romano, 
later,  composed  the  beautiful  Stoning  of  Stephen  (in  Genoa)  on  a  similar 
plan  ;  the  stones  are  lifted,  but  the  saint  is  still  unharmed.-  Here  the 
movement  of  the  youths  has  the  special  advantage  that  the  impetuosity 
of  their  rush  lends  additional  spirit  to  the  horse,  repeating  as  it  does,  the 
same  motive  of  lightning  swiftness.  The  speed  of  movement,  in  which 
their  feet  hardly  seem  to  touch  the  ground,  is  depicted  with  marvellous 
skill.    The  horse  is  less  good,  for  Raphael  was  no  animal  painter. 

The  prostrate  Heliodorus,  on  whom  vengeance  falls,  would  have  been 
depicted  by  the  Quattrocento  as  a  common  rascal,  a  nursery  ogre  without  a 
single  redeeming  feature.  The  sixteenth  century  held  other  views. 
Raphael  did  not  make  him  ignoble.  His  companions  are  shouting.  He 
himself,  though  fallen,  is  calm  and  dignified.  The  head  itself  is  a 
masterpiece  of  Cinquecentist  force  of  expression.  The  painful  upraising  of 
the  head,  the  essentials  of  which  are  indicated  in  the  fewest  possible  forms, 
is  unparalleled  in  earlier  artists,  and  the  motive  of  the  body  must  be 
considered  both  new  and  far-reaching  in  its  influence.^ 

The  women  and  children  stand  opposite  to  the  group  of  the  horseman, 
huddled  together,  all  movement  arrested,  and  showing  a  compact  outline. 
The  impression  of  immbers  is  produced  by  very  simple  means.  If  we  count 
the  figures,  we  shall  be  surprised  to  find  how  few  they  are,  but  all  the 
movements,  the  inquiring  upward  glance,  the  pointing  hand,  the  shrinking 
and  seeking  for  concealment,  are  developed  in  telling  lines  and  extremely 
eflfective  contrasts. 

^  This  is  tlie  version  adopted  by  Michelangelo,  who  introduces  the  story  in  the  Sistine 
ceiling,  on  a  small  scale  (in  one  of  the  bronze  medallions). 

2  The  same  idea  had  been  worked  out  in  the  Stoning  of  Stephen  in  the  Sistine 
tapestries. 

3  I  do  not  support  the  view,  occasionally  put  forward,  that  the  idea  is  borrowed  from 
the  antique.    (Motive  of  a  river-god.) 


106  THE    ART   OP   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


Pope  Julius,  seated  calmly  in  his  litter,  is  seen  above  the  crowd.  He  is 
looking  into  the  picture,  towards  the  background.  His  retinue,  also 
portrait-figures,  take  no  part  in  the  event,  and  it  is  difficult  to  understand 
how  Raphael  could  have  consented  to  abandon  the  emotional  unity  of  the 
picture.  It  was  probably  a  concession  to  the  taste  of  the  Pope,  who 
wished  to  be  present  in  person  in  the  fashion  of  the  fifteenth  century.  The 
canons  of  art  might  insist  that  every  person  in  the  picture  should  be 
represented  as  taking  part  in  the  action,  but  there  were  perpetual  devia- 
tions from  this  rule.  In  this  particular  instance  the  Pope's  whim  was  so 
far  salutary,  that  it  gave  Raphael  the  advantage  of  a  peaceful  contrast  to 
the  general  excitement  of  his  story. 

Two  boys  may  be  seen  clambering  on  the  pillar  towards  the  back- 
ground. What  are  they  there  for  ?  It  may  be  supposed  that  so  con- 
spicuous a  motive  is  no  mere  incident,  which  might  be  omitted  at  will.  They 
are  necessary  for  the  composition,  as  a  set  off  to  the  fallen  Heliodorus.  The 
scale  of  the  balance,  depressed  on  the  one  side,  rises  on  the  other.  The 
"  Down,  down  ! of  the  victor  is  effectively  accentuated  by  this  contrast.^ 

The  treatment  of  the  clambering  boys  discharges  another  function  : 
they  guide  the  eye  towards  the  centre  of  the  picture,  where  we  finally  dis- 
cover the  priest  praying.  He  is  kneeling  at  the  altar,  and  does  not  know 
that  his  prayer  has  been  already  heard.  Imploring  helplessness  is  the 
keynote  of  the  centre  of  the  composition. 

The  Deliverance  of  Peteu 

Raphael  has  told  us  in  three  frescoes  how  Peter  lay  in  prison  and  was 
called  by  an  angel  at  night ;  how,  still  dreaming,  he  went  out  accompanied 
by  the  angel,  and  how  the  watch  was  roused  when  his  flight  was  discovered. 
The  pictures  seem  almost  to  have  arranged  themselves,  on  the  scanty  surface 
of  a  wall  broken  by  a  window.  In  the  middle  we  have  the  dungeon,  the 
front  of  which  is  merely  a  grating  affording  an  unimpeded  view. 
Right  and  left  are  steps,  which  lead  up  from  the  foreground  and  are  im- 
portant as  giving  the  impression  of  depth  and  distance  to  the  picture. 
The  master  thus  avoided  the  disagreeable  effect  which  would  have  been 

^  The  indication  of  a  similar  motive  in  Donatello's  relief,  the  Miracle  of  the  Ass,  is  not 
to  be  taken  as  an  indictment  against  Raphael.  It  would  be  absurd  to  talk  of  borrowing  in 
this  case. 


RAPHAEL 


107 


produced  if  the  recess  of 
the  dungeon  had  seemed 
to  be  immediately  above 
the  recess  of  the  window- 
niche. 

Peter  sits  asleep  on 
the  floor,  his  hands  folded 
over  his  knees  as  in 
prayer,  his  head  a  little 
bowed.  The  angel,  in  a 
glory,  bends  down  to 
him,  lays  a  hand  on  his 
shoulder  and  points  with 
the  other.  Two  Marders, 
encased  in  armour,  stand 
on  either  side  leaning 
against  the  wall  overcome 
with  sleep.  Could  the 
scene  be  more  simply 
presented  ?  And  yet  it 
required  a  Raphael  to  see 
it  thus.  Never  since  has 
the  story  been  told  so 
simply  and  so  impres- 
sively. There  is  a  picture 

of  the  Deliverance  of  Peter  by  Donienichino,  M'hich  is  universally 
known,  for  it  hangs  in  the  church  where  the  holy  chains  are  preserved, 
in  S.  Pietro  in  Vincoli.  There  too  the  angel  is  bending  down  and  grasp- 
ing Peter  by  the  shoulder.  The  old  man  awakes  and  starts  back  in 
terror  at  the  apparition.  Why  did  Raphael  represent  him  sleeping.^ 
Because  only  thus  could  he  express  the  pious  resignation  of  the  prisoner, 
for  fear  is  an  emotion  common  to  the  good  and  the  bad.  Donienichino 
attempted  foreshortening,  and  the  effect  is  disturbing.  Raphael  painted 
a  simple  full-length  figure,  and  the  eflect  is  reposeful  and  quiet.  In 
Domenichino's  picture  again  there  are  two  warders  in  the  prison,  the 
one  lying  on  the  floor,  the  other  leaning  against  the  wall.  With  their 
obtrusive   movement  and  their   carefully   executed   heads,  they  claim 


The  Deliverance  of  St.  Peter  ;  by  Domenichino. 


108  THE    ART   OP   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


attention  as  insistently  as  the  chief  figures.  What  delicate  discrimina- 
tion Raphael  shows  here  !  His  warders  blend  into  the  wall,  they  are 
merely  living  adjmicts  to  the  walls,  and  we  do  not  require  to  notice 
their  coarse  features,  in  which  we  take  absolutely  no  interest.  It  need 
hardly  be  said  that  Raphael  avoids  all  detail  in  the  di*awing  of  the 
prison -walls. 

In  the  Exit  from  the  Prison^  which  earlier  art  used  to  represent  as  the 
kernel  of  the  story,  Peter  was  always  represented  in  the  act  of  talking  with 
the  angel.  Raphael  remembered  the  w^ords  of  the  text :  he  went  out  as  if  in 
a  dream.  The  angel  leads  him  by  the  hand,  but  he  does  not  see  the  angel, 
he  does  not  look  at  the  road  ;  staring  into  vacancy  with  widely  opened  eyes, 
he  walks  away  like  a  dreamer.  The  impression  is  greatly  enhanced  by 
the  way  in  which  the  figure  emerges  from  the  darkness,  partly  hidden  by 
the  radiance  of  the  angel.  The  painter's  instinct  speaks  here  in  Raphael, 
who  had  already  created  a  very  novel  effect  in  the  twilight  of  the  dungeon. 
And  what  shall  we  say  of  the  angel  ?  He  is  the  incomparable  type  of  a 
swiftly-moving  guiding  force. 

The  steps  above  and  below  are  occupied  by  sleeping  soldiers.  The 
sacred  narrative  mentions  that  the  alarm  was  given.  It  is  supposed  to 
have  been  given  in  the  morning.  Raphael  observes  the  unity  of  time,  and 
in  order  to  balance  the  light  to  the  right,  he  places  a  crescent  moon  in  the 
sky,  while  in  the  east  the  dawn  begins  to  break.  Then  he  ventures  on  a 
pictorial  audacity  ;  the  flickering  light  of  a  single  torch  casts  a  ruddy 
reflection  on  the  stones  and  polished  armour. 

The  Deliverance  of  Peter  is  the  one  of  Raphael's  works  best  calculated 
to  win  for  him  the  admiration  of  doubtful  adherents. 


The  Mass  of  Bolsexa 

The  Mass  of  BoJsena  is  the  legend  of  an  unbelieving  priest,  in 
whose  hands  the  wafer  began  to  bleed  at  the  altar.  It  may  be  imagined 
that  this  would  produce  a  highly  effective  picture.  The  priest  starting 
back  awe-struck,  the  spectators  overcome  by  the  sight  of  the  miracle.  The 
scene  has  been  painted  thus  by  other  artists  ;  Raphael  does  not  adopt  this 
method.  The  priest,  who  is  kneeling  before  the  altar  and  is  seen  in  profile, 
does  not  start  up,  but  motionless,  holds  the  bleeding  wafer  in  his  hand.  A 


RAPHAEL 


struggle  is  going  on  within  him  more  interesting  psychologically  than  a 
sudden  outburst  of  ecstasy.  By  making  the  chief  actor  motionless  Raphael 
gains  the  opportunity  for  a  marvellous  nrsceiido  in  the  effect  of  the 
miracle  on  the  crowd  of  believers.  The  choristers  who  are  the  nearest 
whisper  together,  and  sway  their  bodies.  The  foremost  boy  involuntarily 
bows  in  adoration.  On  the  steps  men  are  pressing  and  pushing.  The 
excitement  reaches  its  climax  in  the  woman  in  the  foreground,  who  has 
leapt  up,  and  straining  forward  with  look  and  gesture,  indeed  with  her  whole 
figure,  might  be  an  embodiment  of  belief.  Earlier  artists  have  represented 
Faith  in  such  an  attitude,  and  there  is  a  relief  by  Civitali,  which  shows  a 
marked  similarity  in  the  upturned  head  and  the  half-hidden  profile. 
(Florence,  Museo  Nazionale.)  The  end  of  the  line  is  formed  by  crouching 
women  and  children  grouped  before  the  steps,  the  indifferent  multitude, 
ignorant  as  yet  of  the  miracle. 

In  this  fresco  again  the  Pope  wished  to  appear  with  his  retinue. 
Raphael  reserved  one  half  of  the  picture  for  him.  After  some  preliminary 
hesitation  he  actually  placed  him  on  a  level  with  the  principal  figure. 
Thus  the  two  are  kneeling  opposite  each  other,  profile  to  profile ;  the 
astonished  young  priest,  and  the  old  Pope  in  his  formal  attitude  of  prayer, 
calm  and  unmoved  as  the  ecclesiastical  principle.  Considerably  more  to  the 
background  is  a  group  of  Cardinals,  excellent  portraits,  but  no  one  of  them 
can  compare  with  their  sovereign.  In  the  foreground  are  the  Swiss  Guards 
with  the  papal  litter.  They  too  are  kneeling,  clearly  pronounced  types, 
untouched  bv  any  spiritual  excitement.  The  reflex  action  of  the  miracle 
expresses  itself  merely  in  a  prosaic  eagerness  among  some  of  them  to  find 
out  what  is  happening. 

The  composition  is  therefore  based  on  a  great  contrast  of  motives, 
suggested  by  the  nature  of  the  mural  surface.  There  could  be  no  repre- 
sentation of  the  interior  of  a  church.  A  window  which  had  to  be  taken 
into  consideration  again  broke  the  wall.  Raphael  constructed  a  terrace  with 
steps  leading  down  at  the  sides,  and  placed  the  altar  on  it  so  as  to  form 
the  centre  of  the  picture.  He  surrounded  the  terrace  with  a  circular 
parapet,  and  in  the  background  alone  there  is  a  trace  of  ecclesiastical 
architecture.  As  the  window  is  not  in  the  middle  of  the  wall,  there  is 
an  inequality  between  the  two  divisions  of  the  fresco,  which  Raphael 
counteracted  by  raising  the  left  or  narrower  side  somewhat  higher.  This 
justifies  the  introduction  of  the  men  who  appear  behind  the  priest  on  the 


110  THE    ART   OP   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


parapet,  and  who  would  not  have  been  necessary  for  the  mere  purpose  of 
pointing  out,  and  so  ehicidating  the  phenomenon.^ 

The  last  picture  in  the  room,  the  Meeting  of  Leo  I.  and  Attila,  is  a 
disappointment.  It  is  of  course  obvious  that  the  quiet  dignity  of  the 
Pope  and  his  retinue  is  designed  to  dominate  the  excited  hordes  of  the 
Hunnish  king,  although  the  papal  eort^ge  occupies  the  inferior  position  as 
regards  space,  but  this  effect  was  not  attained.  It  cannot  be  said  that  the 
apparition  of  the  divine  helpers,  Peter  and  Paul,  who  threaten  Attila  from 
the  sky,  destroys  its  impressiveness.  The  contrast  in  itself  is  not  well 
worked  out.  It  is  difficult  to  find  Attila  at  all.  Subordinate  figures 
intrude  themselves  perplexingly ;  there  are  discords  in  the  lines  and 
obscurities  of  the  most  unfortunate  kind.  Raphael's  authorship  of  this 
work,  which  does  not  agree  with  the  others  in  tone,  cannot  be  unreservedly 
accepted.    It  need  not  be  reckoned  with  in  our  demonstration.^ 

In  the  same  way  we  cannot  follow  Raphael  into  the  third  room,  and 
examine  the  Burning  of  the  Borgo.  The  chief  picture,  which  gives  its 
name  to  the  room,  contains  very  beautiful  individual  motives,  but  the  good 
is  mixed  with  the  indifferent,  and  the  whole  lacks  the  compactness  of  an 
original  composition.  The  woman  carrying  water,  the  man  extinguishing 
the  fire,  and  the  group  of  fugitives  will  be  readily  accepted  as  inventions 
of  Raphael's,  and  are  typical  instances  of  his  creation  of  beautiful  individual 
figures  in  his  last  years.  But  the  further  development  of  his  grand 
narrative  manner  must  be  looked  for  in  the  cartoons  for  the  tapestries  of 
the  Sistine  Chapel. 

^  Raphael  assumes  that  the  spectator  stands  exactly  in  the  middle  axis  opposite  the 
picture,  the  left-hand  side  of  the  window-frame  therefore  projects  a  little  into  the  pictured 
space, 

2  I  may  draw  attention  to  certain  obscurities  in  drawing  which  are  incompatible  with 
Raphael's  consummate  mastery  : 

{a)  Attila's  horse.    The  hind-legs  are  indicated,  but  in  a  ludicrously  fragmentary 

manner,  as  far  as  the  hoofs. 
[h)  The  gesticulating  man,  between  the  black  horse  and  the  white.    Only  a  piece  of  his 

second  leg  appears, 
(c)  One  of  the  two  spearmen  in  the  foreground  is  very  defective  in  form. 

The  ground  and  the  landscape  are  not  in  Raphael's  style.  A  strange  hand,  talented  but 
untrained,  shared  the  work.    The  good  portions  are  to  the  left. 


RAPHAEL 


111 


5.  The  Cartooxs  for  the  Tapestries 

The  seven  cartoons  in  the  South  Kensington  Museum,  all  that  re- 
main of  a  series  of  ten,  have  been  called  the  "  Parthenon  Sculptures of 
modern  art.  Thev  certainly  surpass  the  great  Vatican  frescoes  both  as 
regards  fame  and  influence.  Lending  themselves  well  to  reproduction 
as  compositions  containing  few  figures,  they  have  been  widely  diffused 
as  models,  by  means  of  wood-cuts  and  engravings.  They  were  the 
treasury,  from  which  the  various  forms  of  expression  of  human  emotions 
were  obtained,  and  RaphaeFs  fame  as  a  draughtsman  is  mainly  based  on 
these  achievements.  The  West,  in  many  instances,  has  seemed  quite 
incapable  of  imagining  other  forms  of  gesture  to  express  astonishment, 
fear,  the  distortions  of  grief,  dignity,  and  majesty  of  bearing.  The  number 
of  expressive  heads  and  of  eloquent  figures  in  these  compositions  is 
astonishing.  This  produces  the  loud,  almost  strident  effect  of  some  of 
the  pictures.  They  are  unequal  in  merit,  and  not  one  contains  Raphael's 
actual  handiwork.^  But  some  of  them  are  so  perfect  that  we  recognise 
the  immediate  presence  of  RaphaeFs  genius. 

The  Miraculous  Draught  of  Fishes.  Jesus  had  gone  out  on  the  lake 
with  Peter  and  his  brother.  At  His  command  the  nets  had  been  once 
more  let  down,  after  the  fishermen  had  toiled  all  night  in  vain.  They 
then  made  so  stupendous  a  draught  that  a  second  boat  was  called  up  to 
help  haul  the  net  in.  Peter  is  struck  bv  the  evident  miracle — stupefactus 
est^  the  Vulgate  has  it —  ;  he  throws  himself  down  at  the  Lord's  feet : 
"Depart  from  me,  O  Lord,  for  I  am  a  sinful  man."  Christ  therefore 
gently  calms  the  excited  man  :  "  Fear  not." 

That  is  the  incident.  Two  boats  out  on  the  lake.  The  net  has  been 
hauled  in  ;  the  vessels  are  full  of  fish,  and  in  the  midst  of  this  confusion 
we  have  the  scene  between  Peter  and  Christ. 

The  initial  difficulty  was  how  to  give  proper  emphasis  to  the  chief 
figures  in  the  midst  of  so  many  men  and  objects,  especially  since  Christ 
could  hardly  be  presented  otherwise  than  seated.  Raphael  made  the  boats 
small,  unnaturally  small,  in  order  to  insure  the  prominence  of  the  figures. 
Leonardo  had  thus  reduced  the  size  of  the  table  in  the  Z^.s^  Supper.  The 

^  Cf.  H.  Dollmayr,  BaffaeVs  Werhstdtte  {Jahrhuch  der  Kunstliidor.  Samrnhmgen 
des  AUerhochsten  Kaiserhauses,  1895).  "  In  the  essential  parts  ow\y  one  hand  worked  on 
the  cartoons,  that  of  Penni  "  (p.  253). 


112  THE    ART   OP   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


classical  style  sacrificed  reality  to  the  essential.  The  shallow  boats  are 
close  together,  and  are  parallel  to  the  picture-plane,  the  second  being 
slightly  overlapped  by  the  first.  All  the  mechanical  work  is  assigned  to 
the  second  and  farther  boat.  Here  two  young  men  are  seen  drawing  up 
the  nets — Raphael  shows  the  draught  just  at  its  completion,  while  the 
oarsman  is  seated,  and  strains  every  muscle  to  keep  the  boat  balanced. 
These  figures,  however,  have  no  independent  action  in  the  composition, 
but  serve  only  as  a  starting  point  or  introduction  to  the  group  in  the 
foremost  boat,  where  Peter  has  sunk  on  his  knees  before  Christ.  With 
marvellous  skill,  the  occupants  of  the  boats  are  all  brought  into  one  great 
line,  which  rises  by  the  rower,  mounts  over  the  bending  forms,  finds  its 
culminating  point  in  the  upright  figure,  then  suddenly  sinks  and  finally 
rises  once  more  in  the  figiu'e  of  Christ.  Everything  tends  towards  Him, 
He  gives  the  movement  its  object,  and,  although  insignificant  in  mass  and 
placed  quite  at  the  edge  of  the  picture.  His  figure  dominates  all  the  others. 
No  such  composition  had  ever  yet  been  seen. 

The  attitude  of  the  central  standing  figure  determines  the  impression 
of  the  whole,  and  it  is  noteworthy  that  this  was  an  afterthought.  It  had 
long  been  part  of  the  scheme  that  there  should  be  an  upright  figure  at 
this  place  in  the  picture,  but  it  was  to  have  been  merely  a  rower,  who, 
save  that  he  was  required  for  the  boat,  took  no  intimate  share  in  the 
action.  Ultimately  Raphael  felt  the  necessity  of  strengthening  the 
emotional  effect.  He  associated  the  man — we  must  call  him  Andrew — in 
Peter's  action  and  thus  adds  a  singular  intensitv  to  the  act  of  adoration. 
The  kneeling  down  is  to  some  degree  expressed  in  two  actions.  The 
plastic  artist  represents  a  gradual  process  which  he  could  not  otherwise 
depict  by  simultaneous  pictures.  Raphael  frequently  made  use  of  this 
motive.  We  may  remind  the  reader  of  the  horseman  with  his  companions 
in  the  Heliodoriis. 

The  group  is  developed  with  the  utmost  rhythmic  freedom  yet  as 
inevitably  as  an  architectural  composition.  Each  part,  down  to  the 
smallest  detail,  has  its  due  relation  to  the  rest.  Note  how  the  lines  are 
balanced,  and  how  each  section  of  the  surface  seems  precisely  adapted  for 
the  subject  which  fills  it.  It  is  this  which  produces  the  restful  effect  of 
the  whole. 

The  lines  of  the  landscape  are  also  drawn  with  a  definite  intention. 
The  coast  line  exactly  follows  the  ascending  contpur  of  the  group,  then  the 


RAPHAEL 


113 


horizon  becomes  open,  and  the  outline  of  a  hill  again  rises  over  Christ. 
The  landscape  emphasises  the  important  caesura  in  the  composition. 
The  earlier  representations  showed  trees,  hills  and  dales,  the  more  the 
better,  it  was  thought.  Now  the  landscape  in  a  picture  serves  the  same 
purpose  as  the  architecture,  that  of  helping  the  figures. 

Even  the  birds,  which  elsewhere  dart  aimlessly  about  in  the  air,  aid 
the  main  action.  Flying  forward  from  the  background,  they  sink  precisely 
where  the  caesura  occurs,  and  even  the  wind  is  called  upon  to  strengthen 
the  general  effect. 

The  high  horizon  is  somewhat  singular.  Raphael  clearly  wished  to 
give  his  figures  on  the  surface  of  the  water  a  quiet  uniform  background. 
Here  he  applies  what  he  had  learnt  from  Perugino,  whose  Ddivcrij  of  the 
Keys  shows  a  similar  intention  in  the  buildings  he  has  thrust  far  into  the 
background.  The  foreground  is  varied  and  full  of  movement,  in  contrast  with 
the  uniform  surface  of  the  lake.    A  strip  of  the  foreshore  is  visible,  although 


114  THE    ART   OF   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


the  scene  is  siij)p()sed  to  take  place  in  the  iniddle  of  the  lake.^  Some  herons 
stand  there,  splendid  lairds,  perhaps  too  conspicuous  when  the  picture  is  only 
known  by  reproductions  in  black  and  white.  On  the  tapestry  their  brown 
tones  blend  with  the  water,  and  are  not  very  noticeable  by  the  side  of  the 
luminous  human  figures. 

Raphael's  Mirandoif.s-  Draft  of  Fishes^  like  Leonardo's  Last  Supper ^ 
belongs  to  the  pictiu'es  which  henceforth  cannot  be  conceived  otherwise. 
Ho\V  inferior  is  Rubens  to  Raphael  !  By  the  one  motive,  the  starting  up 
of  Christ,  he  has  robbed  the  scene  of  its  nobilitv. 

''Feed  vu)  Lamhs.''^  Raphael  here  deals  with  a  theme  which  had  been 
alreadv  })ainted  bv  Perugino  in  the  Sistine  Chapel,  the  place  for  which  the 
tapestrv  was  intended.  The  scene  as  rendered  by  Perugino  is  only  the 
DeJiverij  of  the  Keys^  here  the  stress  is  laid  on  the  words  of  the  Lord  ; 
"  Feed  my  Lambs  ! The  motive  is  the  same,  and  in  this  connection  it 
is  immaterial  whether  Peter  already  holds  the  key  in  his  arms  or  not.^  Li 
order  to  indicate  the  charge,  an  actual  flock  had  to  be  included  in  the 
picture,  and  Christ  emphasises  the  command  bv  a  vigorous  twofold  gesture. 
What  with  Perugino  was  merely  an  emotional  attitude,  is  here  effective 
action.  The  episode  is  treated  with  historic  gravity.  Peter,  kneeling  and 
gazing  intently  upwards,  is  full  of  the  emotion  proper  to  the  moment. 
And  the  rest  Perugino  gives  us  a  series  of  beautifid  motives  with  his 
standino;  fitrures  and  bowed  heads.  How  could  he  do  otherwise 't  The 
disciples,  however,  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  incident.  It  is  unfortunate 
that  they  were  so  numerous,  for  the  scene  becomes  somewhat  monotonous. 
Raphael  introduces  a  new  and  unexpected  effect.  They  stand  together  in 
a  dense  mass,  from  which  Peter  emerges  but  slightly.  But  what  a  wealth 
of  varied  expression  animates  this  crowd  !  The  nearest  disciples,  attracted 
by  the  radiant  figure  of  Jesus,  feast  their  eyes  on  Him,  ready  to  fall,  like 
Peter,  on  their  knees.  Then  there  is  a  hesitation,  a  feeling  of  doubt,  a 
casting  of  inquiring  glances,  and  the  last  hold  back  in  pronounced  distrust. 
It  is  the  risen  Christ  who  has  appeared  to  the  disciples,  and  has  spoken 
to  them  ;  but  is  it  really  He  or  is  it  a  spirit 't  Raphael's  conception  of  the 
theme  is  to  show  how  the  feeling  of  conviction  graduallv  steals  over  the 

1  Was  it  an  instinct  of  style  that  made  Raphael  require  some  solid  object  in  the  fore- 
ground ?  Botticelli,  too  {Birth  of  VeuK-s),  did  not  bring  the  water  up  to  the  edge  of  the 
picture.  The  Galatea  is  an  instance  to  the  contrary,  but  a  fresco  is  not  bound  by  the  same 
conditions. 

2  The  latter  was  at  any  rate  Raphael's  original  idea. 


115 


"  Feed  my  Lambs." 
From  N.  Dorigny's  Engraving  after  Raphael's  Cartoon. 

group,  how  first  the  foremost  nienibers  are  attracted,  while  the  more  remote 
ones  remain  unmoved.  This  conception  requires  much  power  of  psycho- 
logical expression,  and  was  (]uite  beyond  the  capacities  of  the  elder 
generation.^ 

Perugino  shows  Christ  in  the  middle  of  the  picture  and  the  bystanders 
symmetrically  distributed  on  either  side,  but  in  RaphaeFs  cartoon  Christ 
stands  alone  facing  the  others.  He  does  not  turn  towards  them,  but  is 
passing  by  them.  The  disciples  only  see  Him  from  one  side.  In  another 
instant  He  will  be  there  no  longer.  He  is  the  only  figure  which  reflects 
the  light  in  broad  surfaces.    The  others  have  the  light  against  them. 

The  Healing  c)f'  the  Lame  Man.  The  spectator  looking  at  this  picture 
always  begins  by  inquiring  the  meaning  of  the  great  twisted  columns.  He 
recalls  the  halls  of  the  Quattrocento,  those  transparent  structures,  and 
cannot  comprehend  ho^^'  Raphael  arrived  at  the  elephantine  forms  which 
are  so  conspicuous  here.  The  source  of  the  motive  of  the  twisted  colunni 
^  This  interpretation  follows  (Trimm,  Leloi  Raffaels. 

I  2 


116  THE   ART   OP   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


can  be  traced.  There  was  one  such  in  St.  Peter  s,  which,  according  to 
tradition,  was  brought  from  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem,  and  the  "  Beautiful 
Gate of  that  very  temple  was  the  scene  of  the  healing  of  the  lame  man. 
The  conspicuous  feature  here  is  not  so  much  the  peculiar  shape,  as  the 
combination  of  human  forms  with  architecture.  Raphael  does  not  draw 
the  pillars  as  stage-scenery  or  as  a  background.  He  shows  the  people  in 
the  portico,  a  seething  throng,  and  he  gets  this  effect  with  comparatively 
few  figures,  because  the  columns  themselves  fill  up  the  space. 

It  is  indeed  easy  to  see  that  the  pillars  were  very  desirable  as  a  means 
of  dividing  and  enframing  the  subjects.  It  was  no  longer  sufficient  to 
present  the  people  standing  about,  arranged  in  rows,  as  the  Quattrocentists 
had  done.  Yet  if  a  real  crowd  were  painted,  there  was  considerable  risk 
that  the  chief  figures  would  be  lost  in  it.  This  danger  has  been  obviated, 
and  the  spectator  notices  the  beneficial  effect  of  such  an  arrangement 
before  he  can  account  for  the  way  in  which  it  is  done.  The  scene  of  the 
healing  itself  is  a  splendid  example  of  the  virile  and  powerful  manner  in 
which  Raphael  was  now  able  to  represent  such  an  incident.  St.  Peter, 
who  works  the  cure,  does  not  strike  an  attitude ;  he  is  not  the  exorcist, 
who  utters  a  magic  fornuila,  but  the  capable  physician,  who  simply  grasps 
the  hand  of  the  cripple,  and  with  his  right  hand  makes  the  sign  of  bene- 
diction. The  incident  is  depicted  with  very  little  action.  The  Apostle 
stands  upright  and  only  slightly  bows  his  massive  neck.  Earlier  artists 
represented  him  bending  down  to  the  sufferer,  but  the  miracle  of  raising 
him  up  appears  less  marvellous  so  ;  St.  Peter  looks  steadfastly  at  the  cripple, 
who  gazes  at  him  wistfully  and  expectantly.  The  two  profiles  are  opposite 
each  other,  and  the  tension  of  the  two  figures  is  evident.  The  psychical 
illumination  of  the  scene  is  unparalleled. 

St.  Peter  has  a  companion  figure  in  St.  John,  who  stands  by,  his  head 
slightly  bent,  with  a  kindly  gesture  of  encouragement.  The  cripple  has 
his  antithesis  in  a  colleague  who  looks  on  with  dull  envy.  The  crowd 
pressing  forward  in  doubt  or  curiosity,  presents  a  great  variety  of  ex- 
pression, and  contrast  is  afforded  by  a  proportion  of  indifferent  passers-by. 
Raphael  has  introduced  into  this  scene  of  human  misery  a  contrast  of 
another  kind ;  two  naked  children,  ideal  forms,  a\  hose  luminous  flesh-tints 
.shine  out  from  the  picture. 

The  Death  of  Anania.s  is  a  thankless  subject  for  a  picture,  since  it  is 
impossible  to  represent  death  as  the  result  of  transgression.    The  painter 


RAPHAEL 


117 


The  Death  of  Ananias. 
From  N,  Dorigny's  Engraving  after  Raiihael's  Cartoon. 


can  depict  the  coimnotioii,  the  awe-struck  bystanders,  but  how  can  the 
moral  lesson  of  the  incident  be  enforced,  or  how  can  it  be  shown  that  this 
is  the  death  of  the  mn-ighteous  ?  Raphael  has  done  his  best  to  express  this, 
at  least  superficially.  The  composition  of  the  picture  is  very  austere.  On  a 
})odiuni  in  the  middle  stands  the  entire  band  of  Apostles,  a  compact  and 
impressiye  mass  against  a  dark  background.  On  the  left  the  gifts  are 
being  brought,  on  the  right  they  are  being  distributed,  a  yery  simple  and 
perspicuous  motiye.  In  the  foreground  is  the  dramatic  incident.  Ananias 
lies  convulsed  on  the  ground.  Those  nearest  to  him  start  back  in  horror. 
The  circle  of  these  figures  in  the  foreground  is  so  constructed  that  Ananias, 
falling  backwards,  makes  a  gap  in  the  composition  which  is  visible  from  a 
distance.  We  now  understand  why  everything  else  is  so  severely  ordered. 
The  object  was  to  give  all  jjossible  emphasis  to  this  one  break  in  the 
symmetry.  The  judgment  has  fallen  like  a  thunder-bolt,  and  the  victim 
lies  low.  Now  it  is  impossible  to  overlook  the  connection  of  this  with  the 
other  group  of  the  Apostles,  who  stand  for  destiny  here.    The  eye  is 


118       ^     THE    ART   OP   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


immediately  directed  towards  the  centre,  where  Peter  stands  and  stretches 
out  an  eloquent  arm  towards  the  prostrate  man.  There  is  no  noisy 
movement :  he  does  not  fulminate,  he  wishes  only  to  say  "  God  hath  judged 
thee.'^  Paul,  close  by,  repeats  the  verdict  with  uplifted  hand,  gazing  at 
Sapphira,  who  is  entering.  The  Apostles  are  not  unnerved  at  what  has 
happened  ;  they  all  remain  calm  ;  the  crowd  alone,  which  does  not  perceive 
the  connection  of  events,  breaks  up  in  violent  alarm.  Raphael  introduces 
few  figures,  but  they  are  types  of  intense  bewildered  fear,  which  have 
been  repeated  countless  times  by  the  art  of  succeeding  centuries.  They 
have  become  academical  models  of  expression.  Infinite  harm  has  been 
done  by  transplanting  this  Italian  gesture-language  to  a  northern  soil. 
But  even  the  Italians  have  sometimes  completely  lost  the  feeling  for  natural 
expression  and  have  lapsed  into  artificiality.  As  foreigners  we  will  not 
attempt  to  decide  how  far  the  action  in  this  picture  is  natural.  But  we 
may  note  here  how  the  delineation  of  types  gives  way  to  the  delineation 
of  expression.  The  interest  in  the  expression  of  passionate  emotions  was 
so  strong  in  itself  that  individuality  of  feature  Avas  willingly  abandoned  in 
its  favour. 

The  Blinding'  of  Ehjmas.  Elymas  the  sorcerer  is  suddenly  struck 
blind,  when  he  attempts  to  withstand  the  Apostle  Paul  in  the  presence  of 
the  pro-consul  of  Cyprus.  It  is  the  old  legend  of  the  Christian  saint 
conquering  his  adversary  in  the  presence  of  the  heathen  ruler.  The  scheme 
of  composition  which  Raphael  used,  is  thus  the  same  that  Giotto  knew, 
when  he  painted  St.  Francis  in  the  scene  before  the  Sultan  with  the 
Mohannnedan  priests.  The  pro-consul  is  in  the  centre  and  to  the  front, 
right  and  left,  the  two  parties  face  each  other,  as  with  Giotto,  only  the 
incidents  of  the  picture  are  more  vigorously  concentrated.  Elymas  has 
advanced  towards  the  middle  of  the  picture,  and  suddenly  recoils,  as  it 
grows  dark  before  his  eyes,  stretching  out  both  hands  and  throwing  up  his 
head — an  unsurpassable  picture  of  the  man  struck  blind.  Paul  has 
remained  calm ;  he  is  cjuite  on  the  edge  of  the  picture,  his  back  partly 
turned  to  the  spectator.  The  face  is  in  shadow  (while  the  light  falls  full 
on  Elymas)  and  appears  in  "  lost  profile."'  He  gesticulates  with  the  arm 
which  is  stretched  out  towards  the  sorcerer.  It  is  no  impassioned 
gesture,  but  the  simplicity  of  the  horizontal  line,  which  joins  the  great 
vertical  line  of  the  imposing  upright  figure,  has  a  very  striking  effect. 
He  is  the  rock  from  which  evil  must  recoil.    In  comparison  with  the 


119 


protagonists  in  the  scene,  the  other  figures,  even  if  they  had  been  treated 
with  less  indifference,  could  hardly  have  proved  interesting.  The  pro-consul 
Sergius,  who  is  only  a  spectator  in  the  scene,  throws  back  his  arms,  a 
characteristic  attitude  of  the  Cincpiecento.  He  niav  have  been  thus  con- 
ceived in  the  original  sketch,  but  the  other  persons  are  complementary 
figures,  more  or  less  superfluous  and  distracting,  which,  combined  with 
slovenly  architecture  and  certain  cheap  pictures(jue  effects,  make  the  picture 
somewhat  restless.  Raphael  does  not  seem  to  have  superintended  the 
completion  of  this  work. 

This  impression  is  conveyed  still  more  strongly  ])y  the  Sacrifice  at 
Li/stra.  This  much-praised  picture  is  a  complete  enigma.  Xobody  could 
guess  that  a  cripple  had  been  healed  there,  that  the  people  wished  to 
sacrifice  to  the  man  who  had  wrought  the  miracle  as  to  a  god,  and  that 
he — the  Apostle  Paul — was  rending  his  garments  in  deprecation  of  the 
act.  The  chief  stress  is  laid  on  the  representation  of  an  antitpie  sacri- 
ficial scene,  imitated  from  a  relief  on  an  ancient  sarcophagus,  and  every- 
thing is  made  subservient  to  the  archaeological  interest.  The  extensive  use 
made  of  this  model  is  in  itself  a  reason  for  rejecting  Raphael's  authorship, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  fact  that  every  deviation  from  the  original  has 
been  for  the  worse.  The  composition  is  awkwardly  arranged  and  confused 
in  direction.  The  picture  of  St.  Paul  preaching-  at  Athens  is,  on  the  other 
hand,  a  great  and  original  creation.  The  preacher,  both  arms  uplifted, 
dispensing  alike  with  the  adjuncts  of  lofty  attitude  and  flowing  draperies, 
is  grandiose  in  his  earnestness.  He  is  seen  only  from  one  side,  almost 
from  behind.  He  is  standing  on  a  height,  preaching  into  the  picture, 
and  has  stepped  forward,  to  the  very  edge  of  the  steps.  This  gives  him 
an  air  of  passionate  appeal,  in  spite  of  his  calm.  His  features  are  in 
shadow.  The  whole  expression  is  concentrated  in  the  simple  and  imposing 
line  of  the  figure,  which  triumphantly  dominates  the  picture.  All  the 
preaching  saints  of  the  fifteenth  century  are  mere  tinkling  cymbals  in 
comparison  with  this  orator. 

By  an  ideal  calculation  the  listeners  below  are  far  smaller  figures.  It 
was  a  task  entirely  congenial  to  the  Raphael  of  that  day  to  represent  the 
working  of  the  speech  on  so  many  faces.  Some  figures  are  worthy  of  him  ; 
in  others  it  is  difficult  to  resist  the  impression  that  some  other  pencil  has 
been  at  work  (especially  in  the  coarse  heads  of  the  foreground). 

The  architecture  is  somewhat  obtrusive.    The  background  to  the  figure 


120  THE    ART   OF   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


of  St.  Paul  is  good  in  its  place,  but  one  would  gladly  see  the  circular  , 
temple  (of  Bramante)  replaced  by  some  other  building.    The  Christian 
orator  is  echoed,  in  a 'diagonal  line,  by  the  statue  of  Mars,  an  effective 
method  of  enforcing  the  direction  of  the  composition. 

We  will  omit  the  compositions  which  no  longer  exist  as  cartoons,  and 
are  known  only  in  the  textile  form,  but  we  must  make  a  general  observation 
as  to  the  relation  of  the  drawings  to  the  tapestry.  The  process  of 
working,  as  is  well  known,  reverses  the  picture,  and  it  would  be  expected 
that  the  models  should  provide  for  this.  Strangely  enough,  the  cartoons 
are  not  uniform  in  this  respect.  The  Miraculous  Draught  of  Fishes^  the 
Chargr  to  Peter ^  the  Healhig  of  the  Cripple^  and  the  Death  of  Atianias  are 
drawn  in  such  a  way  that  their  full  effect  is  reserved  for  the  tapestry, 
while  the  Sacrifice  at  Lystra  and  the  Blmdhig  of  Ehjmas  lose  in  being 
reversed.  (The  Preachhig  at  Atheths  is  not  affected.)^  It  is  not  merely  the 
fact  that  the  left  hand  becomes  the  right  hand,  and  that  a  blessing  given 
with  the  left  hand  would  be  incongruous  :  a  composition  of  Raphael's  in 
this  style  cannot  be  reversed  at  will,  without  destroying  some  elements  of 
its  beauty.  Raphael,  according  to  the  style  he  learnt,  leads  the  eye  from 
left  to  right.  Even  in  the  compositions  which  show  no  movement,  such  as 
the  Disputa,  the  trend  is  in  this  direction.  In  the  great  representations 
of  action  no  other  arrangement  will  be  found  :  Heliodorus  had  to  be  thrust 
into  the  right  hand  corner,  to  add  cogency  to  the  movement.  AVhen  in 
the  Miraculous  Draught  of  Fishes  Raphael  wishes  to  guide  us  past  the 
curve  of  the  fishermen  to  the  figure  of  Christ,  it  is  again  natural  for  him 
to  go  from  left  to  right ;  but  where  he  wishes  to  emphasise  the  sudden 
prostration  of  Ananias,  he  makes  him  fall  in  a  contrary  direction. 

Our  reproductions,  which  have  been  made  from  N.  Dorigny's  engravings^ 
give  the  right  view,  for  the  engraver,  working  without  a  mirror,  uninten- 
tionally reversed  the  picture. 

6.  TuK  RoMAX  PouTiiArrs 

In  passing  from  the  historical  picture  to  the  portrait  it  may  be  fitly 
said  that  the  portrait  was  noM^  destined  to  become  the  historical  picture. 
Quattrocentist  likenesses  have  a  something  naive  and  an  air  of  being 

^  It  seems  however  to  require  to  be  reversed,  since  it  is  only  then  that  the  figure  of 
JSIars  holds  the  shiekl  and  spear  correctly. 


i 


RAPHAEL 


121 


studies  from  models.  They  present  the  person  without  any  very  definite 
expression.  The  sitters  gaze  out  from  their  portraits  with  an  in(hfferent^ 
an  ahnost  disconcerting  seH-possession.  The  aim  of  the  artist  was  a 
striking  hkeness,  not  any  special  emotion.  Exceptions  occur,  but,  on 
the  whole,  it  was  thought  sufficient  to  perpetuate  the  sitter  in  his  habitual 
character,  and  the  impression  of  reality  did  not  seem  to  suffer  when  con- 
ventionalities of  attitude  were  preserved. 

The  new  art  demands  that  portraits  should  show  a  personally  charac- 
teristic situation,  a  definite  moment  of  individual  life.  The  painter  will 
no  longer  trust  to  the  forms  of  the  heads  to  speak  for  themselves,  the 
movement  and  gestures  must  now^  be  full  of  expression.  There  is  a 
transition  from  the  descriptive  to  the  dramatic  style. 

The  heads  too,  show  a  new  vigour  of  expression.  It  will  be  readily 
seen  that  this  art  has  ampler  means  of  characterisation  at  its  connnand. 
The  treatment  of  light  and  shade,  the  use  of  line,  the  distribution  of  mass, 
have  been  enlisted  in  its  service.  Everything  is  intended  to  produce  a 
definite  impression.  And  in  order  to  accentuate  the  personality  further^ 
certain  forms  are  now  brought  into  special  prominence,  while  others  are 
repressed,  whereas  Quattrocentists  gave  an  almost  ecjual  value  to  each  part. 

We  cannot  yet  look  for  this  style  in  Kaphael's  Florentine  portraits. 
It  was  only  in  Rome  that  he  became  an  accomplished  portrait-painter. 
The  youthful  artist  hovered  round  the  model  like  a  butterfly,  and  as  yet 
he  failed  to  grasp  the  individuality  of  form,  to  extract  its  characteristic 
essence.  The  Maddalena  Dom  is  a  superficial  portrait,  and  it  seems  to 
me  impossible  to  ascribe  to  the  same  author  the  excellent  female  portrait 
of  the  Tribuna  (the  so-called  Doius  Sister).  In  his  Florentine  period 
Raphael  clearly  did  not  possess  the  power  of  thus  assimilating  the  object 
before  his  eyes.^  His  development  presents  this  curious  spectacle  :  his 
strength  of  characterisation  increases  j)an  passu  with  the  grandeur  ot 
his  style. 

The  portrait  of  Jidius  II.  will  always  be  looked  upon  as  his  first  great 
essay  in  this grnre.  I  refer  to  the  Uffizi  example,  for  that  in  the  Pitti  is  dis- 
tinctly later,  even  allowing  it  to  be  original.  It  assuredly  deserves  the  name 
of  a  historical  picture.  The  Pope,  as  he  sits  there,  his  mouth  firmly  closed, 
his  head  somewhat  bent  in  a  moment  of  reflection,  is  no  model  placed  in 

^  The  attribution  to  Perugino  seems  to  nie  irrefutable,  taking  into  account  its  great 
affinity  with  the  Timefe  Deum  head  in  the  Uffizi  (portrait  of  Francesco  dell'  Opere). 


1-22  THE    ART    OP   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


the  correct  position,  but  rather  a  fragment  of  history,  the  Pope  in  a  typical 
attitude.  The  eves  no  longer  gaze  at  the  spectator.  Their  cavities  are  in 
shadow,  but  on  the  other  hand  the  massive  forehead,  and  the  powerful  nose, 
the  chief  mediums  of  expression,  stand  out  prominently  in  a  uniform  high 
liirht.  These  are  the  accentuations  of  the  new  stvle,  and  later  they  would 
have  been  still  more  pronounced.  One  would  gladly  have  seen  this  very 
head  treated  by  Sebastiano  del  Piombo.  The  problem  was  different  in  the 
Leo  X.  (Pitti).  The  Pope  had  a  fat  heavy  face.  Here  the  master 
seeks  to  divert  attention  from  the  broad  expanse  of  sallow  flesh,  by  the 
play  of  light,  and  to  bring  out  the  spirituality  of  the  head,  the  delicacy  of 
the  nostrils,  and  the  wit  of  the  sensuous,  elo(juent  mouth.  It  is  marvellous 
how  the  dull  short-sighted  eye  has  gained  in  power,  without  changing  in 
character.  The  Pope  is  represented  suddenly  looking  up  from  the  study 
of  an  illuminated  codex.  There  is  something  in  his  look  which  charac- 
terises the  ruler  better  than  if  he  had  been  represented  on  his  throne, 
wearing  the  tiara.  The  hands  are  even  more  individual  than  those  of 
Julius.  The  accompanying  figures,  very  significantly  treated  in  themselves, 
only  serve  as  a  foil,  and  are  in  every  respect  subordinate  to  the  chief 
motive.^  Raphael  has  given  no  inclination  to  any  of  the  three  heads  and  we 
must  admit  that  this  thrice-repeated  vertical  line  spreads  a  sort  of  solenni 
calm  throughout  the  picture.  The  JuUti.s  portrait  has  an  uniform  (green) 
background,  whereas  we  see  here  a  foreshortened  wall  with  pillars,  which 
possesses  the  double  advantage  of  heightening  the  plastic  illusion,  and  of 
giving  alternations  of  light  and  dark  surfaces  as  foils  to  the  chief  tones. 
The  colour,  however,  has  been  toned  down  considerably  and  tends  to  neutral 
tints.  The  old  gaily  coloured  background  is  abandoned,  and  all  emphasis 
is  reserved  for  the  colours  of  the  foreground.  Thus  the  papal  crimson 
makes  as  splendid  a  show  as  possible  against  the  greenish  grey 
background. 

Raphael  has  given  another  sort  of  momentary  animation  to  a  squinting 
scholar,  In<y;hir(nnl.  (The  original  formerly  at  Volterra  is  now  at  Boston, 
an  old  copy  in  the  Pitti  Gallery.)  Without  suppressing  or  concealing  the 
natural  defect,  he  was  able  to  neutralise  it  by  the  intensity  of  the  serious 
and  thoughtful  expression.  A  look  of  indifference  would  be  unendurable 
under  the  circumstances,  but  the  spectator's  attention  is  diverted  from  the 

^  Is  it  by  an  artistic  licence  that  they  appear  so  hnv  down,  or  are  we  to  assume  that 
the  Pope  is  seated  on  a  podium  ? 


RAPHAEL 


123 


Portrait  of  Francesco  dell'  Opere,  by  Peruglno. 


disfigurement  to  the  expression  of  intellectual  intensity  in  this  gifted 
savant's  up-turned  face. 

The  Lighircwii  is  one  of  the  earliest  Roman  portraits.  If  I  am  not 
mistaken,  Raphael,  at  a  later  date,  would  have  avoided  this  sti'ong  ac- 
centuation of  a  momentary  action,  and  would  have  chosen  a  (juieter  motive 
for  a  portrait  which  demands  long  and  repeated  inspection.  Perfect  art 
can  give  all  the  charm  of  momentariness  even  to  repose.  Thus  the  Count 
CastigUone  (Louvre)  is  very  simple  in  the  action,  but  the  slight  inclination 
of  the  head  and  the  folding  of  the  hands  are  full  of  a  momentary  and 


124  THE    ART   OF    THE    ITALIAN  E,ENAISSANCE 


individual  attraction.  The  man  looks  out  of  the  picture  with  a  calni^ 
soulful  gaze,  unmarked  bv  (uiy  obtrusive  sentiment.  Here  Raphael  had  to 
paint  the  noble  courtier,  the  end)()diment  of  the  type  of  the  perfect  cavalier 
described  bv  Castiglione  himself  in  his  little  book,  //  Cortigidno. 
Modesty  is  the  keynote  of  his  character.  The  nobleman  here  adopts  no 
aristocratic  pose ;  he  is  distinguished  by  an  unpretentious  and  unobtrusive 
trancjuillitv  of  bearing.  The  richness  of  effect  of  the  picture  is  won  by 
the  turn  of  the  figure,— on  the  same  plan  as  the  Monna  Lisa, — and  the 
grandly  arranged  costume.  How  imposing  is  the  development  of  the 
silhouette !  If  for  purpose  of  comparison  we  take  a  somewhat  earlier 
picture,  such  as  the  Portrait  of  a  Ma)i  by  Perugino  in  the  Uffizi,  we  shall 
discover  that  the  figure  bears  (juite  a  novel  relation  to  the  surface,  and  we 
shall  feel  how  much  the  wide  space,  and  large,  quiet  planes  of  the  background 
enhance  the  imposing  appearance  of  the  sitter.  The  hands  now  begin  to 
disappear.  The  master  seems  to  have  feared  that  they  would  divert 
attention  from  the  features  in  a  half-length  portrait.  If  they  were 
intended  to  play  a  conspicuous  part,  the  picture  was  made  a  three-quarters 
length.  The  background  here  is  a  neutral  grey  full  of  shadows.  The 
costume  is  also  grey  and  black,  so  that  the  flesh-tints  remain  the  only 
warm  tones.  Masters  of  colour,  such  as  Andrea  del  Sarto  and  Titian, 
have,  like  Raphael,  introduced  the  white  tones  of  the  shirt  in  a  similar 
scheme  of  colour. 

Clarity  of  drawing  has  perhaps  reached  its  highest  perfection  in  the 
Madrid  Portrait  of  a  CanVuial}  The  whole  effect  is  obtained  by  absolutely 
simple  lines,  and  has  the  grandeur  and  repose  of  architecture. 

The  portraits  of  the  two  Venetian  scholars,  Navagero  and  Beazzano 
(in  the  Doria  Gallery)  cannot  be  positively  assigned  to  Raphael's  own 
brush,  but  they  are  in  any  case  splendid  examples  of  the  new  style,  and 
instinct  with  life  and  character.  In  the  Navagei'o  we  have  the  vigorous 
vertical  line ;  the  head  is  abruptly  turned  to  look  over  the  shoulder,  and 
a  broad  light  falls  on  the  nuiscular  neck.  The  power  of  the  bony  frame- 
work is  accentuated,  and  every  detail  adds  to  the  expression  of  vigorous 
activity.  Beazzano  is  the  antithesis,  the  gentle  self-indulgent  nature,  with 
the  head  mildly  inclined  and  softly  illuminated. 

^  The  title  of  the  picture  is  still  doubtful.  The  statement  in  the  Cicerone  that  the 
Cardinal  BiJ>hieim  in  the  Pitti  is  an  "inferior  copy  "  of  the  Madrid  picture  is  incorrect. 
Tiic  two  pictures  have  no  connection  whatever. 


( 


I 


RAPHAEL 


127 


The  Violin-Player,  by  yebastiano  del  Pioml)o. 


The  VioVin-PJaTjcr  (at  one  time  in  the  Palazzo  Sciarra,  Home,  now  in 
the  Kothschild  collection,  Paris)  was  formerly  attributed  to  llaj)hael,  but 
is  now  universally  considered  a  work  of  Sebastiano  del  Piombo.  This 
highly  attractive  head,  with  its  wistful  look  and  determined  mouth,  eloquent 
of  some  intimate  tragedy,  is  noteworthy  as  a  product  of  Cinquecentist 
portraiture,  even  if  compared  with  RaphaeFs  youthful  portrait  of  himself. 
It  is  not  a  mere  difference  in  the  models,  but  a  difference  in  grasp  of  the 


12S  THE    ART   OP   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


subject  that  is  evident.  There  is  new  restraint  in  expression,  and  an 
amazing  power  and  certainty  in  the  effect.  Raphael  had  ah-eady  tried 
tlie  experiment  of  putting  the  head  to  one  side  of  the  canvas.  Sebastiano 
goes  still  farther  in  this  respect.  A  slight  inclination,  almost  imperceptible, 
is  shown.  The  arrangement  of  the  light  is  very  simple,  one  side  being 
completely  in  shadow.  The  contours  are  very  strongly  marked.  Then  we 
have  a  great  contrast  of  direction,  the  eyes  turned  to  look  over  the  shoulder. 
At  the  same  time  enough  of  the  right  arm  is  shown  to  make  a  decisive 
contrast  of  direction  to  the  upright  line  of  the  head. 

Raphael  painted  few  female  portraits,  and  has  left  the  curiosity  of 
succeeding  ages  as  to  the  beauty  of  his  FoDuirhia  unsatisfied.  Formerly, 
liberal  loans  were  made  from  Sebastiano's  (vuvrc,  and  any  beautiful  woman 
by  him  was  attributed  to  Raphael  and  assumed  to  be  his  mistress.  This 
Avas  the  case  Avith  the  VeneticDi  Maiden  in  the  Tribuna,  and  the  Dorothea 
from  Blenheim  (Berlin).  More  recent  criticism  has  been  warier;  the 
Donna  Velata  (in  the  Pitti),  universally  accepted  as  the  work  of  Raphael, 
has  been  declared  not  onlv  to  have  been  the  model  for  the  Sistine  Madonna^ 
but  also  to  be  the  idealised  portrait  of  the  missing  FoDiarina.  The 
connection  in  the  first  case  is  obvious  ;  in  the  second  it  has  at  least  an  old 
tradition  in  its  favour. 

The  For fiarbia  in  the  Tribuna,  dated  1512,  is  a  somewhat  expressionless 
Venetian  beauty,  and  in  no  way  to  be  compared  to  the  Berlin  Dorothea. 
This  later  production  possesses  all  the  aristocratic  calm,  the  majestic 
harmony,  and  the  spacious  movement  of  the  High  Renaissance.^  We  in- 
voluntarily think  of  Andrea  del  Sarto's  beautiful  woman  in  the  Birth  of  the 
Virgin  of  1514.  In  contrast  to  these  voluptuous  creations  of  Sebastiano's, 
Raphael  in  his  Dofuia  Velata  represents  majestic  womanhood.  Her  bearing 
is  erect  and  dignified :  the  costume  rich,  but  subdued  by  the  solenni 
simplicity  of  the  enframing  veil.  The  eyes  are  not  searching,  but  firm 
and  clear.  The  Besh-tints  gain  great  warmth  from  the  neutral  ground, 
and  hold  their  own  triumphantly  against  the  white  satin.  If  we  compare 
this  with  an  earlier  female  portrait,  such  as  the  Maddalena  Do)i},  the  great 
grasp  of  form,  and  the  unerring  certainty  in  the  realisation  of  effects 

^  The  Berlin  catalogue,  on  the  contrary,  dates  the  Dorothea  earlier  tlian  the  picture  in 
the  Tribuna,  following  the  untenable  arguments  of  Jul.  Meyer.  {Jah^-h.  d.  Prenss.  Knnst- 
m  iiimhiiKifii  1886).  It  belongs  to  the  immediate  period  of  the  Violin-Player  and  the 
splendid  Marfyrdom  of  St.  Agatha  in  the  Pitti.  (1520.) 


Dorothea  (Portrait),  by  Sebastiano  del  Piombo. 


I 

RAPHAEL  181 


characteristic  of  this  style,  will  be 
obvious.  But  the  very  foundation 
of  this  is  a  conception  of  the 
dignity  of  the  human  form,  to 
which  the  youthful  Raphael  was 
still  a  stranger. 

The  Dontia  Velata  shows  such  a 
surprising  similarity  to  the  Dorothea 
in  composition,  that  we  are  natur- 
ally led  to  think  the  two  pictures 
may  have  been  painted  in  some  sort 
of  competition.  If  this  were  so,  it 
might  be  permissible  to  couple  with 
these  the  Bella  formerly  in  the 
Sciarra  collection,  which  certainly 
is  an  early  Titian  ^  and  must  have 

been  painted  about  the  same  time.  La  Donna  Velata,  by  Raphael. 

It  would  be  a  remarkable  spectacle 

to  see  the  new-born  beauty  of  the  Cinquecento  displayed  in  three  such 
different  examples  side  by  side. 

However,  we  must  hasten  from  these  prototypes  of  the  Sistine  Madonna 
to  the  picture  itself.  The  road  has  several  stages,  and  among  the  Roman 
altar-pieces  the  St.  Cee'ilia  has  the  first  claim  on  our  consideration. 

7.  Ro:max  Altau-pictukes 

*S'^.  Cecilia  (Bologna  Gallery).  The  saint  is  represented  in  the  centre 
with  four  others,  St.  Paul  and  Mary  Magdalen,  a  bishop  (Ambrose)  and 
St.  John  the  Evangelist,  not  as  a  privileged  person,  not  as  a  specially 
distinguished  member  of  the  group,  but  as  a  sister  of  the  rest.  They  are 
all  standing.  She  has  let  her  organ  ffill,  and  is  listening  to  the  song  of 
the  angels  above  their  heads.  Umbrian  harmonies  are  unmistakeably 
re-echoed  in  this  sympathetic  figure.  And  yet,  when  we  make  a  comparison 
Avith  Perugino,  we  are  astonished  at  Raphael's  moderation.    The  way  in 

^  It  is  now  universally  ascribed  to  I'alma,  but  the  correspondence  with  the  so-called 
Jlaiiresse  de  Titieii  in  the  Salon  Carre  of  the  Louvre  is  so  evident,  that  it  would  be 
advisable  to  return  to  the  old  name. 

K  2 


f 

132  THE    ART   OF   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


which  the  further  foot  is  planted,  and  the  head  bent  back  is  simpler  than 
Perugino  would  have  made  it.  There  is  no  longer  the  yearning  face  wdth 
the  parted  li})s,  the  sentimentality  in  which  Raphael  still  delighted,  even 
when  he  painted  the  St.  Catherine  of  the  London  National  Gallery.  The 
mature  artist  presents  less,  but  he  makes  the  little  he  does  present  more 
effective  by  contrasts.  He  calculates  on  pictorial  effects  which  are  lasting. 
Excessive  rapture  shown  in  a  single  head  is  offensive.  The  picture  derives 
its  freshness  from  the  restrained  expression,  suggesting  possible  intensifica- 
tion, and  from  the  contrast  of  divergent  figures.  St.  Paul  and  the  Magdalen 
are  conceived  in  this  way  :  the  former  manly  and  collected,  gazing  before 
him,  the  latter  quite  unconcerned,  a  neutral  foil.  The  two  others  stand 
apart,  and  whisper  one  to  the  other. 

It  is  an  injury  to  the  artist  to  take  the  chief  figure  out  of  its  setting,  as 
modern  engravers  have  done.  The  sentiment  of  the  picture  requires 
completion  as  much  as  the  line  of  the  bent  head  calls  for  a  contrast.  The 
down -cast  eyes  of  St.  Paul  balance  the  upturned  face  of  St.  Cecilia, 
and  the  unconcerned  Magdalen  forms  the  pure  vertical  line,  by  which 
all  deviations  from  the  perpendicular  may  be  measured. 

We  will  not  examine  further  the  subsequent  development  of  contrasts 
in  the  position  and  aspect  of  the  figures.  Raphael  is  still  discreet ;  a  later 
artist  would  certainly  not  have  grouped  five  standing  figures  without  some 
strong  contrast  of  movement.  The  engraving  of  the  picture  by  Marc 
Antonio  (B.  116)  displays  interesting  variations  in  the  composition. 
If  the  design  is  assumed  to  be  Raphael's  own,  and  no  other  conclusion 
can  be  arrived  at,  it  must  be  an  earlier  sketch,  for  the  arrangement  is 
defective.  The  very  features  which  make  the  picture  interesting  are 
lacking.  The  Magdalen,  full  of  emotion,  looks  upward,  and  so  competes 
with  the  chief  figure,  and  the  two  saints  standing  in  the  background  are 
obtrusive.  In  the  revision  of  the  picture  the  change  has  been  made  which 
is  the  criterion  of  progress,  i.e.  the  substitution  of  subordination  for 
co-ordination.  There  is  a  careful  choice  of  motives,  so  that  everything 
occurs  only  once,  but  each  motive  forms  an  integral  part  of  the  com- 
position.^ 

The  Madonna  of  Foligno  (in  the  Vatican  at  Rome)  must  have  been 
painted  at  nearly  the  same  date  as  the  aS"^.  Cecilia,  about  1512.    We  have 

^  Ecclesiastical  prudery  seems  to  have  lengthened  the  dress  of  St.  Cecilia  in  the 
picture,  for  originally  her  ankles  seem  to  have  been  visible. 


133 


in  it  the  theme  of  the  Madonna  in  a  glory,  an  old  motive,  and  yet  to  some 
extent  new,  since  the  Quattrocentists  seldom  adopted  it.  The  ingenuous 
century  preferred  to  seat  the  ^Madonna  on  a  substantial  throne  rather  than 
to  exalt  her  in  the  clouds,  Avhile  a  change  of  sentiment  in  the  sixteenth 
and  seventeenth  centuries,  tending  to  the  avoidance  of  any  immediate 
contact  between  the  earthly  and  the  heavenly,  led  to  the  adoption  of  this 
ideal  scheme  for  an  altar-picture.  A  picture  which  dates  from  the  close 
of  the  Quattrocento,  Ghirlandajo^s  Madonna  in  Glory  at  Munich,  is  a 
convenient  one  for  purposes  of  comparison. 

In  this  picture  also  there  are  four  men,  who  stand  below  on  earth,  and 
Ghirlandajo  already  felt  the  necessity  of  distinguishing  between  the  atti- 
tudes. Two  of  them  are  kneeling,  as  in  Raphael's  picture.  But  Raphael 
at  once  surpasses  his  predecessor  by  the  variety  and  the  intensity  of  the 
physical  and  emotional  contrasts,  in  a  way  which  forbids  any  possibility  of 
comparison,  and  at  the  same  time  he  adds  another  feature,  the  combination 
of  contrasts.  The  figures  are  intended  to  participate  equally  in  the  ex- 
pression of  emotion,  whereas  earlier,  no  fault  was  found  with  an  altar- 
piece  if  the  attendant  saints  stood  round  in  stolid  indifference.  One  of  the 
kneeling  figures  is  the  donor,  an  unusually  ugly  man,  but  his  ugliness  is 
forgotten  in  the  imposing  dignity  of  the  treatment.  He  is  praying,  while 
his  patron,  St.  Jerome,  lays  his  hand  on  his  head  and  presents  him  to  the 
Madonna.  His  formal  prayer  finds  a  splendid  antithesis  in  the  figure  of 
St.  Francis,  who  looks  fervently  upward,  and  including  by  a  significant 
gesture  of  one  hand  the  whole  congregation  of  believers  in  his  intercession, 
shows  how  the  saints  pray.  His  gesture  is  taken  up,  and  vigorously 
continued  by  the  St.  John  behind  him,  who  is  pointing  to  the  Madonna. 

The  Madonna's  glory  is  picturesquely  dissolved,  though  not  as  yet  com- 
pletely ;  the  old  formal  disc  of  radiance  is  retained  in  part  as  a  background  ; 
but  all  around  clouds  are  floating,  and  the  cherubs  who  encircle  her,  to 
whom  the  Quattrocento  conceded  at  most  a  shred  or  strip  of  cloud  on  which 
to  rest  a  foot,  now  riot  in  their  element  like  fish  in  the  water. 

Raphael  introduces  an  exceedingly  beautiful  and  fertile  motive  in 
representing  the  Madonna  seated.  We  have  already  said  that  he  did  not 
create  this  motive.  The  distinctive  character  of  the  lower  limbs,  the  turn 
of  the  body,  and  the  inclination  of  the  head  may  be  traced  to  the  Madonna 
in  Leonardo's  Adoration  of  the  Kings.  The  Christ-Child  is  very  affected 
in  attitude,  but  it  was  a  charming  thought  to  represent  Him  as  looking 


I 


134  THE    ART   OP   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


down,  not  on  the  praying  donor  as  His  mother  does,  but  on  the  "  putto 
who  stands  among  the  men  below  in  the  centre,  and  who,  for  his  part, 
is  looking  upwards. 

What  is  the  meaning  of  this  naked  boy  with  his  tablet  ?  It  may  be  said 
that  in  any  case  it  is  desirable  that  a  type  of  childish  innocence  should  be 
found  among  all  these  severe  and  serious  male  types.  Besides  this,  the 
child  is  indispensable  as  a  formal  connecting  link.  There  is  a  gap  in  the 
picture  here.  Ghirlandajo  did  not  concern  himself  about  this.  The 
C'inquecento  style,  however,  demanded  that  the  masses  should  be  in  touch 
one  with  the  other,  and  here  in  particular  some  horizontal  line  is  required. 
Raphael  met  this  want  by  the  introduction  of  a  boy-angel,  holding  a  blank 
tablet.    Here  we  see  the  idealism  of  great  Art. 

Raphael  makes  his  effects  with  larger  masses  than  Ghirlandajo.  The 
Madonna  has  been  brought  down  so  low,  that  her  foot  comes  to  the  level 
of  the  shoulder  of  the  standing  figures,  Avhile  on  the  other  hand,  the  lower 
figures  come  quite  to  the  edge  of  the  picture.  The  eve  is  not  intended 
to  wander  away  behind  them  into  the  landscape,  as  in  the  older  works, 
an  arrangement  which  produced  a  certain  looseness  and  slightness  of  effect.^ 

The  Madonna  icHli  the  Fish  (in  the  Prado  at  Madrid).  In  the  Madonna 
del  Pesce  we  have  Kaphaers  Roman  version  of  the  enthroned  Madonna. 
A  Madonna  was  required,  with  the  two  companion  figures  of  St.  Jerome 
and  the  Archangel  Raphael.  The  young  Tobias  with  a  fish  in  his  hand  is 
usually  added  as  a  distinctive  attribute  of  the  latter.  Whereas  the  boy 
used  to  stand  quite  by  himself,  and  was  felt  to  be  only  a  disturbing 
feature,  he  becomes  in  Raphael's  hands  the  centre  of  an  episode,  and 
the  old  typical  votive-picture  has  been  changed  into  a  "  narrative.^'  The 
angel  introduces  Tobias  to  the  Virgin.  We  need  not  look  for  any 
special  allusion  in  this.  It  is  the  natural  outcome  of  Raphael's  art  that 
every  character  in  his  picture  should  take  part  in  the  action.  St.  Jerome 
is  kneeling  on  the  other  side  of  the  throne,  and  looks  up  for  a  moment  from 
his  volume  to  the  group  of  the  angels.  The  Infant  Christ  seems  first  to 
have  been  turned  towards  him,  but  now  He  looks  towards  the  new  arrivals, 
childishly  stretching  out  one  hand  to  them,  while  His  other  hand  still 

^  The  landscape  has  already  been  recognised  by  Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle  as  Ferrarese  in 
construction.  {Dosso  Dos.^i).  Perhaps  the  famous  apparition  of  the  thunderbolt  in  the 
background  is  only  one  of  the  well-known  Ferrarese  pyrotechnic  displays,  to  which  no 
further  importance  should  be  attached.  The  minutely-treated  tussocks  in  the  foreground 
are  of  course  by  the  auxiliary  hand. 


RAPHAEL 


135 


rests  on  the  old  man's 
book.  Marv,  a  very  dig- 
nified and  noble  figure, 
looks  down  on  Tobias 
without  bending  her 
head.  She  forms  an  ab- 
solutely vertical  line  in 
the  composition.  The 
timid  boy  approaching 
the  group  and  the  ex- 
quisitely beautiful  angel, 
a  figure  with  all  the 
I^eonardesque  bloom  and 
delicacy,  combine  to  form 
a  group  which  has  no 
riyal  in  the  world.  The 
upward  glance  of  the 
pleading  angel  is  strength- 
ened by  the  diagonal  of  Madonna  with  two  kneeling  Saints,  by  Albertinelli. 

the  green  curtain,  which 

runs  parallel  to  it.  This  curtain,  standing  out  sharply  from  the  bright 
sky,  constitutes  the  only  embellishment  of  this  extremely  simple  composi- 
tion. The  throne  shows  a  Peruginesque  plainness  of  construction.  The 
richness  of  the  picture  is  due  entirely  to  the  correlation  of  all  moyement, 
and  the  close  grouping  of  the  figures.  As  Frizzoni  lately  demonstrated, 
the  execution  is  not  original,  but  the  perfect  coherence  of  the  composition 
shows  clearly  that  Raphael  superintended  the  work  to  the  end. 

The  Sist'nie  Madonna  (Dresden).  She  is  no  longer  represented  seated 
on  clouds  as  in  the  Madonna  di  FoVigno^  but  upright,  moving  over  the 
clouds,  like  an  apparition  which  is  only  visible  for  a  moment.  Raphael 
painted  this  Madonna  for  the  Carthusians  of  Piacenza.  She  is  attended 
by  St.  Barbara  and  Pope  Sixtus  II.,  from  whom  the  picture  takes  its  name 
of  the  Sistine  Madonna.  The  merits  of  this  composition  have  already  been 
discussed  by  so  many  writers  that  only  a  few  points  need  be  mentioned 
here. 

The  eff'ect  of  a  figure  apparently  emerging  from  the  picture  and 
advancing  upon  the  spectator  must  be  to  some  extent  unpleasant.  Some 


136  THE   ART   OP   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


modern  pictures  indeed  aim  at  this  coarse  effect.  Raphael,  on  the  other 
hand,  employed  every  method  of  restraining  movement  and  keeping  it 
within  bounds.  It  is  not  hard  to  recognise  \vhat  these  methods  were. 
The  motive  of  action  is  a  marvellously  light,  floating  progression.  If  we 
analyse  the  peculiar  conditions  of  equilibrium  in  this  figure,  and  in  the 
line  of  the  inflated  mantle  and  floating  drapery,  the  marvel  will  be  only 
partially  explained.  It  is  an  important  point,  that  the  saints  on  either 
side  are  not  kneeling  on  the  clouds,  but  sinking  into  them,  and  that  the 
feet  of  the  Virgin  are  in  shadow,  the  light  shining  only  on  the  billowy 
clouds  on  which  she  stands.  The  floating  movement  of  the  figure  is 
greatly  re-inforced  by  these  details. 

The  whole  is  so  arranged  that  the  central  figure  has  no  counterpart,  but 
a  number  of  favourable  contrasts.  The  Madonna  alone  is  standing ;  the 
others  are  kneeling,  and  on  a  lower  level. ^  She  alone  confronts  the  spec- 
tator in  an  absolutely  vertical  line,  a  simple  mass,  completely  silhouetted 
against  a  bright  background.  The  others  are  incorporated  with  the 
Avail ;  their  costumes  are  multi-partite,  and  they  are  fragmentary  as  masses. 
They  have  no  raison  cTttre  in  themselves.  They  exist  only  in  reference  to 
the  form  in  the  central  axis,  for  which  the  utmost  clarity  and  power  are 
reserved.  This  sets  the  standard,  the  others  show  the  deviations,  but  in 
such  a  way  that  even  these  appear  regulated  by  hidden  law.  The  scheme 
of  direction  is  clearly  as  follows  :  the  upward  line  of  the  Pope  had  to  be 
counterbalanced  by  a  downward  line  in  the  St.  Barbara,  the  pointing 
outwards  in  the  one  case  by  an  inward  movement  in  the  other.^  Nothing 
in  this  picture  is  left  to  chance.  The  Pope  looks  up  at  the  Madonna, 
St.  Barbara  down  at  the  children  on  the  edge  of  the  picture,  and  thus 
care  is  taken  that  the  eye  of  the  spectator  is  at  once  led  into  certain 
channels. 

I  need  not  dwell  on  the  strange  effect  of  the  trace  of  embarrassment 
in  the  expression  of  the  Virgin,  who  is  given  an  almost  architechonic 
vigour  of  form.  The  God  is  the  Child  in  her  arms  :  her  function  is  only 
to  carry  Him.    He  is  borne  aloft,  not  because  He  could  not  walk,  but 

^  We  may  compare  with  this  Albertinelli's  arrangement  in  his  picture  of  1506  in  the 
Louvre,  which  is  in  every  respect  an  instructive  parallel  to  the  Sistiiie  Madonna.  (See 
ilhistration). 

-  The  two  female  saints  in  Fra  Bartolommeo's  picture  at  Lucca  of  God  Almighty 
(painted  1509)  represent  a  preliminary  stage. 


RAPHAEL 


137 


because  He  is  a  prince.  His  body  is  on  a  superhuman  scale,  and  the  way 
in  which  He  hes  has  something  heroic  in  it.  The  Child  is  not  giving  a 
benediction,  but  He  gazes  at  the  people  in  front  of  Him  with  a  steady, 
unchildlike  look.  He  fixes  them  in  a  manner  unknown  amono;  mortal 
children.  His  hair  is  dishevelled,  like  that  of  a  prophet.  The  two  "  putti 
below  offer  the  contrast  of  normal  infant  nature.^  The  picture  had  to  be 
hung  high,  the  Madonna  is  descending.  If  it  is  placed  too  low,  the  finest 
effect  is  lost.-  The  frame  which  has  been  given  it  at  Dresden  is  perhaps 
over-heavy :  the  figures  would  look  more  imposing  without  the  large 
pilasters.^ 

The  Transfiguration  (Vatican).  The  picture  of  the  Transfiguration 
shows  a  double  scene ;  the  transfiguration  above,  and  the  incident  of  the 
demoniac  boy  below.  This  combination  is  certainly  exceptional.  It  was 
only  once  treated  by  Raphael.  In  it  he  has  given  us  his  last  wordas  to  the 
representation  of  historical  events.  The  Transfiguration  has  always  been 
a  difficult  subject.  Three  men  standing  upright  close  together,  and  three 
others  semi-recumbent  at  their  feet.  A  picture  as  sincere  as  that  of 
Bellini  in  the  Museum  at  Naples,  with  all  its  charm  of  colour  and  detail, 
cannot  disguise  from  us  the  difficulty  experienced  by  the  artist  himself, 
when  he  was  compelled  to  lay  before  the  feet  of  the  glistening  transfigured 

^  Has  it  been  noticed  that  the  larger  angel  has  only  one  wing  ?  Raphael  shrank  from 
the  overlapping  a  second  would  have  entailed.  He  did  not  wish  to  make  the  bottom  of  the 
picture  too  massive.    This  licence  agrees  with  others  of  the  classical  style. 

-  This  may  be  seen  from  the  copy  which  hangs  in  the  Leipzig  Museum. 

3  The  Si.stine  Madonna,  as  is  well  known,  has  been  reproduced  in  many  excellent 
engravings.  First  of  all  by  F.  Miiller  (1815)  in  a  greatly  admired  masterpiece  of  engraving, 
which  many  even  now  consider  the  finest  of  all  the  reproductions.  The  expression  of  the 
heads  comes  very  close  to  the  original,  and  the  plate  is  distinguished  by  an  incomparably 
beautiful  and  tender  brilliance.  (There  is  a  copy  of  it  by  Nordheim.)  Then  Steinla  essayed 
the  task  (1848).  He  was  the  first  who  gave  the  top  of  the  picture  correctly  (the  curtain- 
rod).  Notwithstanding  some  improvements  in  detail  his  work  is  not  equal  to  that  of 
F.  Miiller.  If  any  engraving  can  be  compared  to  this,  it  is  that  of  J.  Keller  (1871.)  Very 
discreet  in  the  means  he  employed,  he  yet  succeeded  in  reproducing  the  shimmer  of  the 
apparition  in  a  wonderful  manner.  Later  critics  discovered  that  he  had  lost  too  much  of  the 
definite  modelling  of  the  original  in  the  process,  and  Mandel  accordingly  set  to  work  making 
extraordinary  efforts  to  realise  the  expressive  drawing  of  Raphael.  He  extracted  an  un- 
expected wealth  of  form  from  the  picture,  but  the  charm  of  the  whole  has  suffered,  and  in 
places  his  very  conscientiousness  has  resulted  in  absolute  ugline&s.  Instead  of  the  luminous 
vapour  he  gives  us  a  blurred  raincloud.  Kohlschein  lately  made  another  departure.  He 
exaggerated  the  lights,  and  changed  the  shimmer  into  a  flare,  wilfully  abandoning  the  effect 
aimed  at  by  Raphael. 


138  THE   ART   OP   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


The  Transfiguration,  by  Giovanni  Bellini. 


Lord  and  His  companions  the  three  prostrate  figures  of  the  dazzled 
disciples.  But  there  was  an  earlier,  more  ideal  scheme,  according  to  which 
Christ  did  not  stand  on  the  ground,  but  was  represented  in  a  nimbus 
raised  above  the  earth.  Perugino  had  painted  the  scene  thus  in  the 
Cambio  at  Perugia.  By  this  device  the  picture  certainly  gained  much  in 
form,  but  with  Raphael  there  can  have  been  from  the  first  no  question  as 
to  which  type  he  should  choose.  His  heightened  perception  felt  the  need 
of  the  miraculous.  He  found  the  gesture  of  the  outspread  arms  already 
existing,  but  the  floating  and  the  expression  of  rapture  could  not  have 
been  derived  from  any  source  Attracted  by  the  action  of  flight,  Moses 
and  Elijah  follow  the  Christ,  turning  towards  Him  and  dependent  on  Him. 
He  is  the  source  of  their  strength  and  the  centre  of  the  light.  The 
others  only  approach  the  borders  of  the  radiance  which  surrounds  the 


RAPHAEL 


139 


Fragment  from  the  Transfiguration,  by  Raphael. 


Saviour.  The  disciples  beneath  complete  the  circle.  Raphael  drew  them 
on  a  much  smaller  scale,  so  as  to  connect  them  closely  with  the  ground. 
They  are  no  longer  separate  independent  personalities,  which  distract  the 
attention.  They  seem  essential  components  of  the  circle  which  the 
transfigured  Lord  has  drawn  round  Him,  and  it  is  by  contrast  with  these 
circumscribed  forms  that  the  floating  figure  gains  the  full  effect  of 
freedom  and  emancipation.  If  Raphael  had  bequeathed  nothing  to  the 
world  but  this  group,  it  would  be  a  complete  monument  of  art  as  he 
conceived  it.^ 

^  The  feeling  for  proportion  and  arrangement  was  soon  completely  dulled  in  the 
Bolognese  Academicians,  who  essayed  to  continue  the  traditions  of  the  classical  period. 
Christ,  haranguing  the  disciples  from  the  clouds,  squeezed  in  between  the  sprawling  seated 
figures  of  Moses  and  Elijah,  and  the  herculean  disciples,  beneath,  vulgarly  exaggerated  in 
gesture  and  attitude — this  is  Ludovico  Carracci's  picture  in  the  Bologna  Gallery.  (See 
illustration). 


140  THE    ART   OP   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


But  he  did  not  wish  to  end  there.  He  wanted  a  strong  contrast,  and 
this  he  found  in  the  episode  of  the  demoniac  boy.  It  is  the  logical 
development  of  those  principles  of  composition  which  he  had  adopted  in 
the  Heliodorus  Stanza.  Above,  peace,  solemnity  and  celestial  rapture ; 
beneath,  noisv  crowds  and  earthly  lamentation. 

The  Apostles  stand  there,  closely  packed  together.  There  are  confused 
groups  and  strident  outlines.  The  chief  motive  is  a  diagonal  path,  over 
which  the  crowd  has  spread.  The  figures  in  the  lower  part  of  the  picture 
are  on  a  larger  scale  than  those  in  the  upper,  but  there  is  no  danger  of 
their  outweighing  the  Transfiguration  scene.  The  clear  geometrical 
disposition  triumphs  over  all  the  tumult  of  the  multitude.  Raphael  was 
not  able  to  finish  this  picture.  ]Many  details  of  form  are  repellent,  and 
the  whole  is  unattractive  in  colour.  But  the  great  contrast  in  arrangement 
must  have  been  his  original  thought. 

Titian's  Assumption  was  produced  in  Venice  at  about  the  same  time 
(1518).  The  object  here  is  different,  but  in  principle  the  two  pictures  are 
akin.  The  Apostles  beneath  form  of  themselves  a  close  wall,  a  sort  of 
plinth,  in  which  the  individual  counts  for  nothing.  The  Virgin  stands 
above  them,  in  a  great  circle,  the  upper  circumference  of  which  coincides 
with  the  semi-circular  frame  of  the  picture.  It  may  be  asked  why  Raphael 
did  not  also  choose  this  semi-circular  form  for  the  completion  of  his  picture. 
Perhaps  he  was  afraid  of  exaggerating  the  ascending  movement  of  the 
Christ. 

The  pupils  who  finished  the  Transfiguration  worked  their  will  in 
other  places  also  under  the  name  of  their  master.  It  is  only  in  very 
recent  times  that  any  attempt  has  been  made  to  free  Raphael  from  this 
partnership.  The  products  of  Raphael's  atelier,  harsh  in  colour,  mean  in 
conception,  false  in  gesture,  and  above  all,  devoid  of  proportion,  are,  for  the 
most  part,  strangely  unpleasant  productions. 

We  can  understand  the  anger  of  Sebastiano  when  he  found  his  road 
blocked  by  such  people  in  Rome.  Sebastiano  was  all  his  life  a  spiteful 
rival  of  Raphael,  but  his  talent  entitled  him  to  aspire  to  the  highest  tasks. 
He  never  completely  freed  himself  from  a  certain  Venetian  awkwardness. 
In  the  middle  of  monumental  Rome  he  still  adhered  to  the  scheme  of  the 
half-length  picture,  and  he  may  be  said  never  to  have  attained  a  thorough 
mastery  over  the  drawing  of  the  human  body.  He  was  deficient  also  in 
the  finer  feeling  for  space,  he  was  easily  bewildered,  and  as  a  consequence 


RAPHAEL 


he  appears  cramped  and  confused 
at  times.  But  he  had  truly 
great  powers  of  conception.  As  a 
painter  of  portraits  he  stood  in 
the  very  first  rank,  and  in  histori- 
cal pictures  he  achieved  now  and 
again  powerful  effects,  onlv  com- 
parable to  those  of  Michelangelo. 
We  do  not  indeed  know  how  much 
he  M  as  indebted  to  the  latter.  His 
Flagellation  in  S.  Pietro  in  j\Ion- 
torio  at  Rome  and  the  Pieta  in 
\  iterbo  are  amoiio;  the  most  mao;- 
nificent  creations  of  the  golden 
age.  The  Raising  of  Lazarus^ 
painted  in  competition  with 
Raphael's  Transfiguration^  hardly 
deserves  to  be  ranked  so  highlv. 
Sebastiano  excelled  in  the  repre- 
sentation of  a  few  figures  rather 
than  in  depicting  a  crowd,  and 
the  half-length  may  be  considered, 
generally,  the  domain  in  which  he 
felt  himself  most  secure.    His  very 

distinguished  style  finds  its  best  expression  in  the  Visitation  in  the  Louvre. 
The  Visitation  of  the  school  of  Raphael  in  the  Prado,  in  spite  of  its 
large  figures,  looks  commonplace  by  comparison.^  Even  the  Christ  hearing 
His  Cross  in  Madrid  (replica  in  Dresden)  may  be  considered  superior 
in  the  expression  of  its  chief  figure  to  the  suffering  Christ  of  Raphael's 
Spasimo.  (Prado).'- 


The  Transfiguration,        L.  Carracci. 


^  It  is  impossible  that  this  very  poor  composition  was  designed  by  Raphael,  (Cf. 
Dollmayr,  p.  344  :  by  Penni). 

^  This  celebrated  picture  was  not  only  executed  by  other  hands,  but  must  also  have 
been  copiously  "  edited  "  in  composition.  The  chief  motive  of  Christ  looking  round  over 
His  shoulder  is  striking,  and  is  undoubtedly  genuine,  as  is  also  the  development  of  the 
procession  as  a  whole.  Bvit,  together  with  this,  there  are  lamentable  obscurities  and 
motives  borrowed  from  other  works  by  Raphael,  so  that  any  idea  of  the  personal  share  of 
the  master  in  the  composition  is  precluded. 


142  THE    ART   OP   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


If  any  painter  may  be  named  as  a  third  with  the  two  great  masters 
in  Rome,  it  is  Sebastiano.  He  gives  us  the  impression  of  a  personality 
destined  for  the  highest  achievements,  who  had  never  completely  developed  ; 
who  never  produced  what  he  might  have  done  with  his  talents.  He 
lacked  the  sacred  enthusiasm  for  work.  In  this  he  was  the  antithesis  to 
Raphael,  whose  diligence  Michelangelo  praised  as  his  essential  character- 
istic. What  he  meant  by  this  was  obviously  Raphael's  capacity  for 
gaining  fresh  strength  from  every  fresh  task. 


Vintage.    From  the  engraving  by  ]\Iarc  Antonio. 


FRA  BARTOLOMMEO 


1475—1517 

Ix  Fra  Bartolommeo  the  High  Renaissance  has  its  type  of  the  monastic 
painter. 

The  great  experience  of  his  youth  had  been  the  preaching  of  Savonarola 
and  the  spectacle  of  his  death.  After  that  he  retired  to  a  monastery  and 
renounced  painting  for  a  time.  This  must  have  been  a  painful  resolution, 
for  in  him,  more  than  in  most  painters,  we  divine  the  need  of  pictorial 
expression.  He  had  not  much  to  say,  but  the  thought  that  inspired  him 
was  a  noble  thought.  The  pupil  of  Savonarola  cherished  an  ideal  of  a 
potent  simplicity,  by  force  of  which  he  would  annihilate  the  worldly  vanity 
and  the  petty  conceits  of  the  Florentine  church-pictures.  He  was  no 
fanatic,  no  soured  ascetic.  His  songs  are  joyous  lays  of  triumph.  He 
must  be  seen  in  his  votive  pictures,  where  the  saints  stand  in  serried  masses 
round  the  enthroned  Madonna.  In  these  his  uttei-ance  is  clear  and 
pathetic.  Ponderous  masses,  co-ordinated  by  strict  rule,  imposing  con- 
trasts of  direction,  and  a  splendid  energy  of  combined  movement  are  his 
characteristics.  His  is  the  style  which  dwells  in  the  resounding  vaults  of 
the  High  Renaissance. 

Nature  endowed  him  with  a  feeling  for  the  grandiose,  for  majestic 
bearing,  stately  draperies,  and  magnificently  undulating  line.  Can  any- 
thing be  compared  to  his  St.  Sebastian  for  buoyant  beauty,  or  where  can 
the  gesture  of  his  Risen  Saviour  be  equalled  in  Florence  ?  A  robust 
sensuality  preserved  him  from  mere  hollow  pathos.  His  Evangelists  are 
full-necked  and  athletic.  Those  who  stand  are  absolutely  firm  on  their 
feet,  and  those  who  are  holding  anvthing  have  an  iron  grip.  He  makes 
the  gigantic  his  normal  scale,  and  anxious  to  give  his  pictures  the  most 


144  THE   ART   OP   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


powerful  plastic  effect,  he  so  intensifies  the  darkness  of  his  shadows  and 
backgrounds,  that  many  of  his  pictures,  owing  to  the  inevitable  deepening 
in  tone,  no  longer  give  us  any  pleasure.  He  felt  but  a  qualified  interest  in 
the  accurate  presentment  of  the  individual.  He  aimed  at  general  effects, 
not  particular  types.  He  treated  the  nude  superficially,  because  he 
calculated  on  the  impression  produced  by  the  motive  of  movement  and  line 
as  a  whole.  His  characters  are  always  significant  from  the  sinceritv  with 
which  thev  are  conceived,  but  even  here  he  hardly  goes  beyond  general 
traits.  We  accept  his  generalisations  because  we  are  carried  away  by  the 
gestures  of  his  figures,  and  feel  his  personality  in  the  rhythm  of  the 
composition.  Very  occasionally  he  went  beyond  his  depth,  as  in  the  heroic 
seated  figures  of  prophets.  The  influence  of  Michelangelo  bewildered  him  for 
a  moment.  In  attempting  to  compete  with  the  movement  of  this  giant  he 
became  empty  and  insincere.  It  is  obvious  that,  among  the  older  painters, 
Perugino  with  his  simplicity  must  have  been  the  one  who  most  strongly 
appealed  to  him.  He  found  in  him  what  he  himself  was  seeking,  disregard 
of  amusing  detail,  quiet  spaces,  and  concentrated  expression.  He  follows 
him  even  in  beauty  of  movement,  adding  to  this,  however,  his  individual 
feeling  for  strength,  mass,  and  compact  outline.  Compared  with  him, 
Perugino  at  once  seems  petty  and  affected. 

How  much  of  his  broad  pictorial  style  can  be  traced  to  Leonardo,  and 
how  far  the  latter  was  responsible  for  his  bold  treatment  of  light  and 
shade,  and  his  rich  gradations,  are  questions  for  a  monograph.  Such 
discussion  would  further  have  to  take  into  account  the  impression 
produced  by  Venice,  which  the  Frate  visited  in  the  year  1508.  He  saw 
there  a  style  adapted  to  large  surfaces  in  its  highest  development,  and 
found  in  Bellini  a  perception  and  a  feeling  for  the  beautiful  which  must 
have  affected  him  like  a  revelation.  We  shall  return  to  this  point 
presently. 

It  is  not  easy  to  predict  the  future  development  of  Bartolommeo  from 
his  fresco  of  the  Last  Judgment  (in  the  Hospital  of  Sta.  Maria  Nuova, 
Florence),  a  work  of  the  expiring  Quattrocento.  The  upper  group,  the 
only  part  of  the  picture  he  himself  executed,  suffers  especially  from  w^ant 
of  cohesion.  The  chief  figure,  the  Saviour,  is  too  small,  and  among  the 
rows  of  seated  saints,  which  converge  towards  the  background,  the  cramped 
arrangement  and  the  close  juxtaposition  of  the  heads  has  a  dry  and  anti- 


145 


qiiated  effect.  If  it  has  been  justly  said  that  the  composition  was  the 
stimulating  influence  in  Raphael's  Dlsputn,  a  comparison  of  the  two  works 
also  shows  very  clearly  the  real  achievement  of  Raphael,  and  the  difficulties 
he  surmounted.  The  inorganic  arrangement  of  the  whole  and  the  removal 
of  the  principal  figure  into  the  background  are  defects  found  in  the 
preliminary  sketches  for  the  Disputa,  and  finally  overcome.  Raphael,  on 
the  other  hand,  from  the  first  found  no  difficulty  in  the  clear  development 
of  the  seated  saints.  He  shared  Perugino's  taste  for  perspicuitv  and 
spacious  grouping,  whereas  all  the  Floren  bines  expected  the  spectator  to 
pick  out  particular  heads  from  denselv  packed  rows. 

Very  different  is  the  appeal  made  to  the  spectator  by  the  Virgin  ap- 
pearing to  St.  Bernard  (1506,  Florence,  Accademia),  the  first  picture  painted 
by  Bartolommeo  as  a  monk.  It  is  not  a  pleasing  work,  and  its  condition 
leaves  much  to  be  desired,  but  it  is  a  picture  which  produces  an  impression. 
The  apparition  is  represented  in  an  unexpected  manner.  It  is  no  longer 
Filippino's  delicate,  timid  woman  who  advances  to  the  desk  of  the  holy 
man  and  lays  her  hand  on  the  book.  It  is  a  supernatural  apparition,  which 
floats  down  in  the  majestic  waves  of  a  cloak,  escorted  by  a  choir  of  angels, 
in  crowded  masses,  all  filled  with  reverence  and  adoration.  Filippino 
had  painted  girls  half-shy,  half-curious,  who  accompany  the  Virgin  on  her 
visit.  Bartolommeo  does  not  wish  to  raise  a  smile,  but  to  stir  devotion. 
Unfortunately  his  angels  are  so  ugly  that  the  devout  feeling  is  slightly 
chilled.  The  saint  receives  the  miracle  with  pious  astonishment,  and  this 
impression  is  so  beautifully  rendered  that  in  comparison  Filippino  seems 
ordinary,  and  even  Perugino  in  his  picture  at  Munich,  mediocre.  The 
heavy,  trailing  white  robe  has  a  novel  grandeur  of  line. 

The  accompanying  details  of  landscape  and  architecture  still  show  the 
uncertain  touch  of  the  young  artist.  The  space  is  on  the  whole  cramped, 
so  that  the  apparition  has  a  somewhat  overwhelming  effect.  Three  years 
later  the  inspiration  which  gave  rise  to  the  St.  Bernaixl  flamed  out  once 
more  in  the  picture  of  God  the  Father  with  two  kneeling  female  saints 
(1509,  Academy  at  Lucca),  where  the  worshipping  Catherine  of  Siena, 
repeats  the  motive  in  a  larger  and  more  emotional  form.  The  turn  of 
the  head  with  its  "  lost  profile,"'  and  the  forward  inclination  of  the  body 
strengthen  the  impression,  just  as  the  movement  of  the  dark  habit  blown 
out  by  the  wind,  is  a  very  effective  translation  of  mental  excitement  into 
agitated  external  form. 

L 


"l46  THE   ART   OP   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


The  other  saint,  the  ]\Iagdalen,  is  motionless.  She  holds  out  the 
l)ox  of  ointment  with  hieratic  solemnity,  and  raises  an  end  of  her  mantle 
high  before  her  breast,  while  her  lowered  eyes  rest  on  the  congregation. 
AVe  have  here  a  contrast  of  arrangement  of  the  kind  Raphael  afterwards 
repeated  in  the  Slst'ine  Madonna.  Both  figures  are  kneeling,  not  on 
the  surface  of  the  earth,  but  on  clouds.  In  addition  to  this  Bartolommeo 
gives  an  architectonic  framework  with  two  pillars.  The  eye  is  carried 
into  the  distance  of  the  background  over  a  Hat  quiet  landscape.  The 
ffiint  line  of  the  horizon  and  the  great  expanse  of  atmosphere  produce 
a  marvellously  solemn  effect.  Similar  intentions  are  noticeable  in  I'eru- 
gino's  works,  as  the  reader  may  remember,  but  it  is  rather  impressions 
of  Venice  that  are  re-echoed  here.  In  contrast  to  the  palpitating 
abundance  of  Florentine  motives  this  picture  speaks  significantly  of 
new  ideals.  AVhere  Bartolommeo  takes  in  hand  the  ordinary  picture  of 
the  Virgin  with  Saints,  as  for  example,  the  marvellously  painted  picture 
of  1508  in  the  Cathedral  of  Lucca,^  his  chief  concern  is  once  more  a 
simplification  of  effects,  quite  in  the  manner  of  Perugino  :  plain  draperies, 
(|uiet  backgrounds,  and  a  mere  cube  as  a  throne.  He  surpasses  Perugino 
in  his  more  vigorous  movement,  his  lustier  figures,  and  more  compact 
design.  His  line  is  rounded  and  undulating,  averse  to  all  harsh 
intersections.  How  admirably  the  silhouettes  of  Mary  and  Stephen  are 
harmonised !  ^  The  uniform  filling  up  of  the  surface  has  an  antiquated 
effect,  but  with  a  new  feeling  for  mass,  the  standing  figures  are 
brought  close  to  the  edge  of  the  picture,  which  is  enframed  by  two 
lateral  pillars,  whereas  the  earlier  artists  always  allowed  a  glimpse  of 
space  between  the  pillars  and  the  margin. 

Henceforward  Bartolommeo  strikes  chords  ever  fuller  and  richer  in 
his  altar-pieces,  creating  rhythms  more  and  more  spirited  and  sweeping 
in  the  arrangement  of  his  figures.  He  understood  how  to  subordinate 
his  crowds  to  a  grand  leading  motive,  and  to  oppose  contrasting  groups 
of  dark  and  liquid  tones.  With  all  this  wealth  of  effect  his  pictures  are 
full  of  breadth  and  space.    The  most  perfect  expression  of  his  art  is  found 

^  He  gives  a  memento  of  his  Venetian  journey  to  Florentine  art  in  the  putto  playing 
the  lute. 

-  Inartistic  engravers,  such  as  Jesi,  have  placed  the  Madonna  higher  in  the 
picture,  misled  by  an  arbitrary  desire  to  improve  it,  and  thus  have  dislocated  the 
araljesque. 


I 


147 


The  Virgin  appearing  to  St.  Bernard,  by  Fra  Bartolommeo. 


in  the  Marriage  of  St.  Catherine  (Pitti)  and  in  the  cartoon  of  the  Patron 
Saints  of  Florence  Avith  St.  Anne  and  two  others  (Uffizi)  :  both  were 
painted  in  1512. 

The  space  in  these  pictures  is  closely  filled  in.  Bartolommeo  wanted 
a  dark  background.  A  wide  landscape  claiming  the  attention  of  the 
spectator  would  have  been  disturbing  to  the  harmony  of  his  pictures. 
He  demanded  the  accompaniment  of  heavy,  solemn  architecture.  A  large 
empty  semicircular  niche  is  often  the  motive ;  he  may  have  learnt  the 
effect  of  this  at  Venice.  The  shadow  thrown  by  the  vaulting  constitutes 
the  value  of  this  motive.  Strong  colour  is  abandoned,  just  as  the 
Venetians  themselves,  by  the  sixteenth  century,  had  given  up  bright 
hues  in  favour  of  neutral  tints. 

To  secure  animation  of  line  for  his  figures,  Bartolonuneo  placed 
two  or  three  steps  rising  from  the  foreground  to  the  background.  This 

L  2 


148  THE   ART   OF   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 

motive  of  steps,  which  Raphael  used  with  grandiose  effect  in  the  School 
of  Athens^  became  indispensable  in  the  Prate's  altar-pieces  with  their 
numerous  figures. 

The  point  of  sight  is  thus  put  far  back,  so  that  the  figures  behind 
are  lowered.  This  may  have  been  intended  as  the  natural  point  of  sight 
for  the  spectator  in  the  church.  Bartolommeo's  strongly  accentuated 
composition  is  especially  benefited  by  this  perspective.  The  rise  and 
fall  of  the  rhvthmical  theme  is  clearly  marked.  With  all  his  fulness, 
Bartolommeo  never  produces  a  disturbing  or  confusing  effect.  He 
constructs  his  pictures  on  a  definite  plan,  and  the  pillars  on  which  his 
composition  rests  are  at  once  apparent. 

In  the  Marriagr^^  the  figure  in  the  right-hand  corner  is  a  singularly 
characteristic  type,  a  motive  proper  to  the  wealth  of  movement  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  and  one  which  Pontormo  and  Andrea  del  Sarto  have 
made  their  own  :  one  foot  planted  on  the  step,  the  arm  outstretched,  the 
turn  of  the  head  contrasting  with  that  of  the  body.  The  grasping  hands 
and  curving  body  are  full  of  energy.  In  order  to  display  the  muscles  and 
the  joints  the  arm  is  nude  to  the  elbow.  Michelangelo  had  set  this 
fashion,  but  he  would  certainly  have  drawn  this  arm  differently.  The 
wrist  lacks  expression. 

The  St.  George  on  the  left  side  forms  a  happy  contrast  by  its  simplicity. 
The  gleaming  armour  emerging  from  the  dark  background  was  a  novelty 
to  Plorentine  eyes. 

Lastly,  the  suggesti\e  group  of  the  Child  and  His  Mother,  who  directs 
the  movement  downwards  by  giving  the  wedding-ring  to  St.  (Catherine,  is 
of  wonderful  sweetness,  and  very  characteristic  of  Bartolommeo  in  the  liquid 
flow  of  the  line. 

Pictures  of  this  type,  with  their  rich  rhythmic  life,  the  severe  correctness 
of  their  tectonic  structure,  and  their  unfettered  movement,  made  a  great 
impression  on  the  Plorentines. 

That  which  had  been  so  much  admired  formerly  in  Perugino's  geomet- 
rically arranged  Pieta  (1494),  was  here  presented  in  a  higher  form.  In 
his  fresco  of  the  Visitation  (outer  court  of  the  Annunziata)  Pontormo  has 
attempted,  and  not  unsuccessfully,  to  imitate  the  composition  of  the  Frate. 
He  raises  the  chief  group  in  front  of  a  niche,  he  sets  powerfully  con- 

^  The  marriage  of  St.  Catherine  is  not  the  central  motive  of  the  picture,  but  the  name 
must  be  tolerated  for  purposes  of  distinction. 


149 


trasted  corner- figures  near 
the  margin  in  the  fore- 
ground, he  employs  the 
motive  of  the  steps  to 
fill  up  the  middle  space, 
and  by  these  means 
achieves  a  truly  monu- 
mental impression.  The 
value  of  each  individual 
figure  is  increased  by  its 
forming  part  of  so  strik- 
ing a  whole. 

The  Madonna  at  Be- 
sancon  claims  particular 
notice,  in  that  it  con- 
tains a  most  beautiful 
figure  of  a  St.  Sebastian. 
The  movement  is  magni- 
ficently fluent,  and  the 
painting  has  the  Venetian 
breadth.  The  combined 
influences  of  Perugino 
and  Bellini  are  noticeable. 
The  light  falls  only  on  the 

right  side  of  the  body,  where  the  action  is  most  lively,  and  so,  to  the 
immense  advantage  of  the  figure,  the  essentials  of  the  motive  are  made 
prominent.  But  the  picture  is  also  noticeable  for  its  subject.  The 
Madonna  is  represented  on  clouds,  and  these  clouds  are  enclosed  in  an 
architectonic  interior,  which  only  allows  a  glimpse  into  the  open  air 
through  a  door  in  the  background.  This  is  idealism  of  a  novel  kind. 
Bartolommeo  seems  to  have  wanted  the  dark  background  and  the  depth  of 
shadow.  He  also  obtained  in  this  way  new  contrasts  in  the  figures  of  the 
standing  saints.  The  impression  of  space  is,  however,  inadequate,  and  the 
open  door,  instead  of  increasing  this,  seems  to  contract  it  further.  The 
picture  originally  terminated  differently  at  the  top.  There  was  a  Corona- 
tion in  the  lunette.  It  is  possible  that  by  this  means  the  general 
effect  was  improved.    This  picture  seems  to  have  been  painted  about  1512. 


Madonna  with  Saints,  by  Fra  Bartolommeo. 


150 


The  Prate's  emotional  power  culminated  in  the  deep  pathos  of  the 
Madonna  della  Misericord ia  of  the  year  1515  at  Lucca  (Academy).  These 
Misericordia  pictures  in  their  familiar  form  are  oblong  in  shape :  the 
Madonna  stands  in  the  middle,  and  clasps  her  hands  in  prayer.  To  the 
right  and  left  under  her  cloak  kneel  the  devout  persons  who  place  them- 
selves under  her  protection.  In  Bartolommeo's  hands  they  become  large 
upright  pictures  rounded  at  the  top.  The  Virgin  stands  raised  above  the 
earth.  Angels  spread  out  her  cloak,  and  thus  she  offers  her  loud  and 
urgent  intercession  with  a  magnificently  triumphant  gesture,  her  arms  ex- 
tended, one  upwards,  the  other  downwards ;  Christ,  granting  her  prayer, 
answers  her  from  heaven.  His  figure,  too,  is  enveloped  in  a  fluttering 
mantle. 

In  order  to  give  ease  to  Mary's  action  Bartolommeo  was  forced  to 
raise  one  of  her  feet  above  the  other.  What  was  to  be  excuse  for 
this  inequality  of  height  ?  He  was  not  for  a  moment  at  a  loss ;  to 
carry  out  the  idea,  he  placed  a  small  step  under  one  foot.  The  classical 
age  found  no  fault  with  these  expedients,  at  which  the  modern  critic  would 
cry  out.  The  congregation  is  ranged  in  stages  from  the  podium  down 
to  the  foreground,  and  groups  are  formed  of  mothers  and  children,  of 
praying  and  gesticulating  persons,  who  may  from  the  standpoint  of  form 
be  compared  with  those  in  the  Heliodorus.  This  comparison  is  somewhat 
dangerous,  for  it  at  once  reveals  the  real  defect  in  the  picture.  It  is 
deficient  in  continuity  of  movement ;  the  movement,  that  is,  which  is  carried 
on  from  one  member  of  the  group  to  another.  Bartolommeo  continually 
renewed  his  attempts  to  represent  such  mass-movements,  but  he  seems 
here  to  have  reached  the  limit  of  his  talent.^ 

Titian's  Assmnption  was  painted  a  few  years  after  the  Madonna  della 
Mise7'icordia.  A  reference  to  this  unique  creation  can  hardly  be  avoided, 
seeing  how  closely  the  motives  of  the  two  works  are  connected,  but  it 
would  be  unfair  to  measure  Bartolommeo's  merit  by  Titian.  The  import- 
ance of  Bartolommeo  for  Florence  was  immense,  and  the  picture  at  Lucca 
is  a  convincing  expression  of  the  lofty  spirit  of  that  time.  How  quickly 
such  lofty  conceptions  are  debased  is  best  shown  by  Baroccio's  popular 
picture  on  the  same  theme,  known  as  the  Madonna  del  Popolo  (Uffizi). 
Admirably  bold  and  bright  in  its  picturesque  design,  it  is  absolutely  trivial 

^  The  relation  to  the  Heliodorus  is  still  clearer  in  the  Rape  of  Dinah  in  Vienna,  the 
drawing  for  which  was  due  to  Bartolommeo. 


FRA  BARTOLOMMEO 


151 


in  essence.  Akin  to  the  Madonna  della  Misericordia  is  the  Risen  Christ 
of  the  Pitti  (1517).  All  that  was  uncertain  and  false  in  the  former  is 
eliminated  here.  The  picture  may  be  regarded  as  the  most  perfect  of  the 
Frate's  works.  He  had  become  more  tranquil.  But  the  restrained  pathos 
of  this  gentle,  beneficent  Christ  has  a  more  searching  and  convincing 
effect  than  any  violent  gesture  :  "  Behold  I  live,  and  ye  shall  live  also  !  " 
Bartolommeo  had  been  in  Rome  just  previously,  and  mav  have  seen  the 
Sistine  Madonna  there.  The  magnificent  simplicity  of  the  folds  of  the 
drapery  is  of  a  very  similar  kind.  In  the  silhouette  he  introduces  a 
gradually  ascending  triple  undulation,  a  splendid  motive  which  was  destined 
to  be  further  employed  in  his  pictures  of  the  Madonna.  The  drawing  of 
the  uplifted  arm  and  the  knowledge  of  anatomy  shown  in  it  would  have 
satisfied  Michelangelo.  Here  again  we  have  the  great  niche  in  the  back- 
ground. Christ  rises  above  it,  and  His  figure  thus  gains  in  dignity.  He 
is  raised  above  the  Evangelists  by  a  pedestal,  an  apparently  obvious  con- 
trivance, which  is  quite  alien  to  the  whole  Florentine  Quattrocento.  The 
first  examples  of  it  are  found  in  Venice. 

The  four  evangelists  are  sterling  personalities,  firm  and  massive  of 
type.  Only  two  are  accentuated.  The  two  at  the  back  are  completely 
subordinated  to  the  two  in  front,  with  whom  they  combine  in  silhouette. 
This  illustrates  Bartolommeo's  feeling  for  mass.  The  profiles  and  full- 
faces,  the  upright  and  stooping  positions,  are  distributed  with  an  abso- 
lutely mature  calculation  of  effect.  The  vertical  line  of  the  full-face  to 
the  right  is  not  so  impressive  in  itself ;  it  acquires  special  force  from  its 
connection,  and  from  the  architectonic  accompaniments.  We  recognise 
their  inevitability. 

Lastly,  the  group  of  mourners,  the  Pietci,  has  been  treated  by  Barto- 
lommeo with  the  most  noble  restraint  of  expression,  as  the  greatest  artists 
of  his  time  treated  it.  All  the  details  of  this  picture  combine  with  and 
emphasise  the  rest.  (Picture  in  the  Pitti.)  The  lamentation  is  subdued. 
There  is  a  gentle  meeting  of  two  profiles ;  the  mother  has  raised  the  dead 
hand,  and  stoops  to  imprint  a  last  kiss  on  the  forehead.  That  is  all.  The 
Christ  shows  no  trace  of  the  sufferings  He  has  undergone.  The  position  of 
His  head  is  not  that  of  a  corpse.  Even  here  idealism  prevails.  The  features 
of  the  Magdalen,  who  has  thrown  herself  in  passionate  grief  at  the  feet  of 
the  Lord,  are  indistinguishable.  The  expression  of  the  St.  John,  however, 
shows,  as  Jacob  Burckhardt  remarked,  traces  of  the  exertion  of  bearing 


152 


THE   ART   OP   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


the  body — a  truly  dramatic 
touch.  The  emotions  are 
thus  strongly  differentiated, 
and  the  parallelism  of  ex- 
pression, found  in  Perugino's 
works,  is  replaced  by  v  igor- 
ous contrasts,  reciprocally 
enhanced.  A  similar  econ- 
omy governs  the  physical 
movements.  Two  figures  are 
now  wanting  in  the  compo- 
sition, for  a  St.  Peter  and  a 
St.  Paul  were  once  in  the 
picture.  We  must  imagine 
them  also  bending  down, 
above  the  Magdalen,  the 
ugliness  of  whose  silhouette 
thus   be  modified.! 


The  Risen  Christ  with  the  Four  Evangelists,  by 
Fra  Bartolommeo. 


would 

The  absence  of  these  figures 
has  shifted  the  accent  of 
the  Avhole.  There  was,  how- 
ever, no  symmetrical  distri- 
bution of  masses,  such  as 
the  picture  now  seems  to 
suggest ;  a  free  rhythmical 
arrangement  was  aimed  at,  but  the  three  heads  to  the  left  certainly 
require  some  counterpoise.  Later,  the  base  of  a  cross  was  added  in  the 
middle  of  the  group,  obviously  incorrectly  ;  for  this  particular  place  should 
be  unaccented. 

Compared  with  Perugino,  who  seemed  so  calm  among  his  contempo- 
raries, Bartolommeo  is  even  more  restrained  and  impressive  in  line.  The 
great  pai-allel  horizontal  lines  on  the  border  of  the  foreground  only  serve  to 
express  the  very  simple,  irliexu) -like  grouping  of  the  figures,  with  the  two 
dominating  profiles.  Bartolommeo  must  have  realised  the  beneficial  results 
of  thus  giving  repose  to  the  picture.    He  succeeds  in  conveying  a  similar 

^  The  figures  were  put  in,  but  were  expunged.  For  the  complete  group  see  Albertinelli's 
Pitld  in  the  Academy. 


PRA  BARTOLOMMEO 


153 


impression  of  repose  by 
lowering  the  group.  Peru- 
gino^s  lofty  triangle  has 
become  an  obtuse-angled 
group  of  inconsiderable 
height.  The  oblong  shape 
of  the  picture  was  per- 
haps selected  with  the 
same  object. 

Bartolommeo  nn'ght 
have  been  able  to  con- 
tinue    his     Avork  still 

further,  tranquilly  bring-  rieta,  by  Fra  Bartolommeo. 

ing  the  whole  rauge  of 

Christian  subjects  nearer  to  their  classical  form.  We  gather  from  his 
sketches  that  his  imagination  rapidly  kindled,  evoking  definite  pictorial 
forms,  to  which  he  applied  the  laws  of  effect  with  unerring  precision. 
Yet  it  was  not  the  application  of  rule  which  decided  the  effect  in  his 
case,  but  the  personality  which  had  created  rules  of  its  own.  How  little 
academic  instruction  could  be  gleaned  in  his  studio  is  shown  by  the 
example  of  Albertinelli,  who  was  one  of  his  closest  intimates. 

Mariotto  Albertinelli  (1474-1515)  Mas  called  by  Vasari  "a  second 
Bartolommeo.""  He  was  long  his  collaborator,  but  he  was  of  a  very 
different  temperament.  He  lacks  the  Frate's  conviction.  Endowed  with 
great  talents,  he  essayed  problems  now  and  again,  but  arrived  at  no  logical 
result,  and  at  intervals  he  abandoned  painting  altogether,  and  took  to 
inn -keeping. 

The  early  picture  of  the  VisHat'iofi  (1503)  shows  him  at  his  best ;  the 
conception  of  the  group  is  pure  and  beautiful,  blending  harmoniously  with 
the  background.  The  subject  of  the  nuitual  greeting  is  not  very  easy  to 
master  ;  to  get  the  four  hands  into  their  places  is  a  difficult  feat.  Ghirlandajo 
had  treated  the  theme  not  long  before  (picture  in  the  Louvre,  dated  1491). 
He  makes  Elizabeth  kneel  and  stretch  out  her  arms,  while  Mary  lays  her 
hands  soothingly  on  her  shoulders.  But  by  this  arrangement  one  of  the 
four  hands  has  entirely  disappeared,  and  the  parallel  movement  of  the  arm 
of  ]\Iary  is  not  one  which  we  should  care  to  see  repeated.  Albertinelli  is 
at  once  richer  and  clearer.    The  women  clasp  their  right  hands,  and  the 


154 


THE   ART   OP   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


disengaged  left  arms  are 
differentiated  by  making 
Elizabeth  embrace  her 
visitor,  while  Mary  mo- 
destly places  her  hand 
before  her  bosom.  The 
motive  of  kneeling  is 
abandoned.  Albertinelli 
wanted  to  bring  the  two 
profiles  quite  close  to- 
gether. By  the  rapid 
step  of  the  elder  woman 
and  the  slight  inclination 
of  her  head,  he  has  clearly 
marked  her  subordination 
to  Mary,  while  by  casting 
a  strong  shadow  on  her 
face  he  further  emphasises 
the  idea.  No  Quattro- 
centist  would  have  yet 
thought  of  making  the 
distinction  thus.  The 
two  stand  in  front  of  a 
vestibule,  the  architecture 
of  which  clearly  owes  its 
origin  to  Perugino,  and 
the  vast  peaceful  back- 
ground of  sky  is  conceived 
quite  in  his  style.  Later 
artists  would  have  avoided 

the  further  glimpses  of  landscape  on  either  side  of  the  picture.  The  drapery 
and  the  flowery  foreground  still  show  traces  of  the  Quattrocento. 

The  great  Cnicifijcioii  in  the  Certosa  (1506)  also  shows  Perugino's 
influence.  But  four  years  afterwards  Albertinelli  created  the  new  and 
classic  emendation  of  the  figure  on  the  cross  in  his  picture  of  the  Trimty 
(Academy,  Florence).  All  earlier  artists  separate  the  legs  widely  at  the 
knees.    But  a  finer  pictorial  result  is  obtained  when  subordination  takes 


The  Holy  Trinity,  by  Albertinelli. 


FRA  BARTOLOMMEO 


155 


the  place  of  co-ordina- 
tion, i.e.  when  one  leg  is 
pushed  over  the  other. 
Hereafter,  the  painter 
went  further  still,  and 
made  a  counter-move- 
ment of  the  head  corre- 
spond to  this  movement 
of  the  legs.  If  the  direc- 
tion of  the  lower  limbs  is 
towards  the  right,  then 
the  head  leans  towards 
the  left.  Thus  the  theme, 
apparently  so  stiff'  and 
incapable  of  any  beaut v 
of  rendering,  gains  a 
rhythm  which  is  never 
afterwards  wanting. 

The  interesting  Au- 
m(nciation  (in  the  Acade- 
my) of  the  same  year 
must  be  mentioned.  He 
devoted  much  labour  to 
this  picture,  which  is  im- 
portant'-in  the  history  of 
general  development.  W e 
may  remember  how  in- 
significant a  role  was 
commonly  assigned  to  the 

First  Person  of  the  Trinitv  in  pictures  of  the  Annunciation.  He  appears 
as  a  small  half-length  figure  somewhere  in  the  top  corner,  and  sends 
down  the  Dove.  Here  he  is  depicted  full  length,  placed  in  the  centre, 
and  surrounded  by  a  garland  of  angels.  These  fiying  angels,  with  their 
instruments  of  music,  demanded  labour,  and  the  artist,  who  in  disgust 
exchanged  the  duties  of  a  painter  for  those  of  an  innkeeper,  in  order  to 
be  freed  from  the  eternal  talk  about  foreshortening,  has  made  a  creditable 
effort  here.     In  the  celestial  motive  some  trace  of  the  nimbi  of  the 


The  Annunciation,  by  Albertinelli. 


15S  THE   ART   OP   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


seventeenth  century  is  already  discernible.  Everything,  however,  is  still 
svmmetrical,  and  on  one  plane,  while  the  celestial  figures  of  the  seventeenth 
century  usually  advance  diagonally  from  the  depth  of  the  picture.  The 
calmly  dignified  Mary  harmonises  with  the  increased  solemnity  of  the 
rendering.  She  stands  in  a  graceful  posture,  and  does  not  face  towards  the 
angel,  but  looking  at  him  over  her  shoulder,  receives  his  reverent  saluta- 
tion. Without  this  picture,  Andrea  del  Sarto  would  never  have  created 
his  Amninciatioii  of  1512.  It  is  interesting  also  pictorially,  since  it  shows 
as  background  a  large  dark  interior  in  greenish  tints.  The  work  was 
intended  to  be  hung  high  up,  and  the  perspective  takes  this  into  account, 
but  the  abruptly  descending  line  of  the  cornice  produces  a  harsh  effect  in 
relation  to  the  figure. 


VI 


ANDREA  DEL  SARTO 
1486—1531 

Andrea  del  Sahto  has  been  termed  superficial  and  soulless,  and  it  is 
true  that  there  are  commonplace  pictures  by  him,  and  that  in  his  later 
years  he  was  prone  to  become  stereotyped.  He  is  the  only  one  among  the 
painters  of  the  first  rank  who  seems  to  have  had  some  defect  in  his  moral 
constitution.  By  birth  he  was  the  refined  Florentine  of  the  race  of  the 
Filippinos  and  Leonardos,  most  fastidious  in  his  taste,  a  painter  of 
elegance,  of  soft  luxurious  attitudes  and  dignified  movements  of  the  hand. 
He  was  a  child  of  the  world,  and  his  Madonnas  have  a  certain  worldly 
elegance.  He  does  not  aim  at  strong  movement  and  effect,  and  hardly 
ever  goes  beyond  stately  standing  and  walking.  In  this  way,  however,  he 
develops  a  fascinating  sense  of  beauty.  Vasari  reproaches  him  with  excessive 
timidity  and  tameness,  and  a  want  of  proper  audacity.  It  is  only  necessary 
to  have  seen  one  of  the  great  machines  "  Vasari  was  accustomed  to  paint 
himself,  to  understand  this  criticism,  but  Andrea's  works  also  appear  tame 
and  simple  by  the  side  of  the  mighty  constructions  of  Fra  Bartolommeo  or 
the  Roman  school.  Yet  he  was  gifted  with  versatile  and  brilliant  powers. 
Brought  up  to  admire  Michelangelo,  he  could  claim  for  a  period  to  be 
reckoned  the  best  draughtsman  in  Florence.  He  treated  the  articulations 
with  an  incisiveness,  and  brought  out  their  functions  with  an  energy  and 
vigour  which  must  have  secured  wide-spread  admiration  for  his  pictures, 
even  if  the  hereditary  Florentine  skill  in  draughtsmanship  had  not  in  his 
case  been  coupled  with  a  gift  for  painting  Avhich  was  almost  unique  in 
Tuscany.  He  paid  little  attention  to  picturesque  phenomena,  and  did  not, 
for  example,  show  much  perception  of  the  material  characteristics  of 


158  THE   ART   OP   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


things,  but  the  mild  radiance  of  his  flesh-tints  and  the  soft  atmosphere  in 
Avhich  his  figures  repose  have  a  great  charm.  In  his  feeling  for  colour, 
as  in  his  feeling  for  line,  he  has  the  soft,  almost  languid  beauty,  which 
makes  him  appear  more  modern  than  any  one  else. 

Without  Andrea  del  Sarto,  Cinquecentist  Florence  would  have  lacked 
her  festal  painter.  In  the  great  fresco  of  the  Bhth  of  Mary  in  the  outer 
court  of  the  Annunziata  we  have  that  which  Raphael  and  Bartolommeo  do 
not  give  :  humanity's  exquisite  delight  in  life  at  the  moment  when  the 
Renaissance  Avas  at  its  apogee.  AVe  would  gladly  have  had  many  more 
such  pictures  of  real  life  from  Andrea ;  he  should  not  have  painted  any 
other.  It  was,  however,  not  entirely  his  own  fault  that  he  did  not 
become  the  Paolo  Veronese  of  Florence. 

1.  The  FiiEscoEs  of  the  Axxuxziata 

The  traveller  usually  receives  his  first  great  impression  of  Andrea  in 
the  outer  court  of  the  Annunziata.  Here  we  have  nothing  but  eai'ly 
and  serious  subjects.  Five  scenes  from  the  life  of  San  Filippo  Botizzi, 
the  last  dated  1511,  and  then  the  Bi?^th  of  the  Vb^gbi  and  the  Procession  of 
the  Three  Kings  (1514).  The  pictures  are  in  a  beautiful  light  tone,  at 
first  still  somewhat  dry  in  the  juxtaposition  of  colours,  but  in  the 
picture  of  the  Birth  the  rich  harmonious  modelling  of  Andrea  is  fully 
apparent.  In  the  first  two  pictures  his  handling  of  the  composition  is 
loose  and  insouciant,  but  in  the  third  he  becomes  severe,  and  builds  up 
a  design  with  an  accentuated  centre  and  symmetrically  developed  side 
scenes.  He  drives  a  wedge  into  the  crowd,  making  the  central  figures 
retreat,  and  the  picture  gains  depth,  in  contrast  to  that  array  of  lines  along 
the  front  edge  of  the  picture,  which  Ghirlandajo  still  employed  almost 
exclusively.  This  central  scheme  is  in  itself  no  innovation  in  an  historical 
picture,  but  the  way  in  which  the  figures  stretched  out  their  hands  to  each 
other  is  novel.  There  are  no  separate  rows  placed  one  behind  the  other, 
but  the  various  members  emerge  from  the  depth  of  the  background  in  a  clearly 
arranged  and  unbroken  sequence.  This  is  the  identical  problem  which 
Raphael  set  himself  at  this  same  time,  but  on  a  far  larger  scale,  in  the 
Disputa  and  the  School  of  Athens.  The  last  picture,  the  Birth  of  the 
Virgin,  marks  Sarto's  transition  from  the  strictly  tectonic  to  the  freely 
rhythmical  style.     The   composition    swells    in    a    magnificent   curve : 


159 


beginning  from  the  left  with  the  women  by  the  fire-place,  the  movement 
reaches  its  climax  in  the  two  walking  women,  and  dies  away  in  the  group 
by  the  bed  of  the  mother.  The  freedom  of  this  rhythmical  arrangement 
is  indeed  very  different  from  the  licence  of  the  earlier  unrestrained  style. 
Law  exists  here,  and  the  way  in  which  the  standing  women  dominate  and 
bind  the  whole  picture  together  first  becomes  imaginable  as  a  motive  in 
the  sixteenth  century. 

As  soon  as  he  substituted  strict  composition  for  the  preliminary  loose 
juxtaposition,  Andrea  del  Sarto  felt  the  necessity  of  calling  in  architecture 
to  his  aid.  He  looked  to  it  to  bind  the  whole  together  and  to  give  stability 
to  the  figures.  This  was  the  beginning  of  that  combined  idea  of  space 
and  figures,  which  may  be  said  to  have  been  on  the  whole  quite  alien  to 
the  Quattrocento  pictures,  in  which  buildings  played  rather  the  part  of  an 
incidental  accompaniment  and  embellishment.  Andrea  Avas  but  a  beginner, 
and  it  can  never  be  said  that  he  was  successful  in  his  treatment  of  archi- 
tecture.   We  notice  the  difficulty  he  found  in  dealing  adequately  with  a 


160  THE  ART   OF   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


very  large  space.  His  architectural  background  is  generally  too  heavy. 
Where  he  makes  an  opening  in  the  centre,  its  effect  is  to  contract  rather 
than  to  expand,  and  where  he  allows  a  glimpse  of  the  landscape  at  the 
sides  of  the  picture,  he  only  distracts  the  attention  of  the  spectator. 
His  figures  throughout  have  a  somewhat  forlorn  appearance.  It  is  the 
interior  of  the  Birth  of  the  Virgin  that  first  solves  the  problem. 

Any  comparison  with  Raphael  shows  how  little  competent  Andrea  was 
to  deal  with  the  dramatic  nature  of  the  scenes  here  represented.  The 
gestures  of  the  wonder-working  Saint  are  neither  imposing  nor  convincing, 
and  the  spectators  are  content  to  stand  by  listlessly  with  some  languid 
gesture  of  surprise.  Where  for  once  he  has  treated  some  scene  of  vigorous 
action,  where  the  lightning  causes  the  triflers  and  scoffers  to  flv  in  terror, 
he  shows  these  figures  quite  small  in  the  middle  distance,  although  this 
would  have  been  a  suitable  opportunity  for  applying  his  studies  of  Michel- 
angelo's cartoon  of  the  Bathing  Soldiers.  The  chief  motives  are  all 
quiet,  yet  it  is  worth  while  to  trace  out  the  thought  of  the  artist 
in  each  particular  case,  and  we  shall  find  very  beautiful  motives  conceived 
with  the  delicacy  of  youth  in  these  very  pictures,  where  he  had  three 
times  successively  the  task  of  working  from  a  centre,  and  arranging 
the  figures,  whether  standing,  approaching  or  sitting,  symmetrically  as  a 
whole,  though  unsymmetrically  in  detail.  The  simplicity  has  often  the 
effect  of  timidity,  but  we  gladly  abandon  for  a  moment  the  forms  made 
interesting  merely  by  antithesis  of  position.  Andrea  first  achieves  absolute 
freedom  in  the  picture  of  the  Birth  of  the  Virgin.  Aristocratic  noncha- 
lance, and  indolent  self-abandonment  have  found  no  more  able  interpreter. 
The  whole  rhythm  of  the  Cinquecento  lives  in  the  two  advancing  women. 
The  lying-in  mother  is  also  more  richly  treated.  The  flat  position  and 
the  stiff*  back  given  her  in  Ghirlandajo's  work  now  seem  as  barbarously 
antiquated  as  the  manner  in  which  Masaccio  makes  her  lie  on  her  stomach 
must  have  seemed  vulgar  to  the  noble  Florentines. 

The  lying-in  woman  went  through  a  development  similar  to  that  of 
the  recumbent  figure  on  tombs.  In  both  there  is  now  much  turning 
and  differentiation  of  the  limbs. 

The  most  fertile  motive  of  a  lying-in  room  from  the  point  of  view 
of  rich  effects  is  the  cluster  of  women  who  are  busied  with  the  baby. 
Here  is  scope  for  a  splendid  multiplicity  of  curves,  and  the  sitting  and 
stooping  figures  combine  into  a  close  knot  of  movement.    Sarto  is  still 


161 


reticent  in  working  out  this  theme,  hut  later  artists  make  it  the  central 
idea  of  such  pictures.  The  group  of  women  is  put  right  into  the  fore- 
ground, and  the  bed  with  the  mother  is  pushed  back.  In  this  wav  the 
idea  of  the  visit  naturally  disappears.  In  a  colossal  picture  in  S.  Maria 
del  Popolo  (Rome)  Sebastiano  del  Piombo  presents  the  scene  for  the  first 
time  in  this  form,  which  was  universally  adopted  during  the  seventeenth 
century. 

In  the  upper  part  of  the  })icture  an  angel  is  seen  swinging  a  censer. 
Familiar  as  the  cloud-motive  in  this  place  is  to  us  from  examples  of  the 
sixteaith  century,  we  are  still  much  surprised  to  find  it  introduced  here 
by  Sarto.  We  have  become  so  accustomed  to  the  bright  clear  realism 
of  the  Quattrocento,  that  such  miraculous  appearances  are  not  accepted  as 
matters  of  course.  A  change  of  sentiment  has  obviously  taken  place. 
Men's  thoughts  are  once  more  fixed  on  the  ideal,  and  scope  is  given  to  the 
miraculous.    We  shall  meet  with  a  similar  symptom  in  the  Anmindation.^ 

In  spite  of  this  ideality  Andrea  retained  the  Florentine  fashion  of  his 
day  in  the  costume  of  the  women,  and  in  the  furniture  of  the  room.  It  is 
a  Florentine  room  in  the  modern  style,  and  the  dresses — as  Vasari 
expressly  states — are  those  worn  at  the  date  of  the  picture  (1514). 

If  in  this  Birth  of  the  Virg'ui  Andrea  attempted  the  free  rhythmical 
style,  this  does  not  mean  that  he  regarded  the  stricter  tectonic  composition 
as  a  preliminary  stage  he  had  accomplished.  He  returns  to  it  in  another 
place,  the  cloisters  of  the  Scalzo.  The  entrance  court  of  the  Annunziata 
itself  contains  an  admirable  example  of  the  kind  in  the  Visitation  by 
Pontormo,  which  was  painted  inniiediately  after.  Vasari  was  right  in 
saying  that  anyone  who  wished  to  rival  Andrea  del  Sarto  in  this  field  must 
create  a  work  of  extraordinary  beauty.  Pontormo  has  done  this.  The 
Visitation  not  only  produces  an  imposing  effect  by  the  increased  size  of  the 
figures ;  it  is  intrinsically  a  great  composition.  The  central  scheme, 
according  to  the  design  which  Andrea  had  thoroughly  tested  five  years 
before,  is  now  for  the  first  time  raised  to  the  height  of  an  architectonic 
effect.  The  greeting  of  the  two  women  takes  place  on  a  platform,  raised 
on  steps,  in  front  of  a  niche.    By  means  of  these  steps,  which  are  brought 

^  Andrea  knew  Diirer  and  made  use  of  him.  This  is  clear  from  other  cases.  It  is 
possible  that  even  here  the  angel  was  suggested  by  Diirer's  Life  of  Mary.  The  artist  must 
have  been  glad  to  be  able  to  hll  up  the  superfluous  space  at  the  top  of  the  picture  in  some 
way  or  other. 


162 


well  into  the  foreground,  a  suggestive  difference  of  height  is  given  to  the 
accessory  figures,  and  a  spirited  undulation  of  lines  results.  Amid  all  this 
movement  the  great  structural  notes  are  still  clearly  heard  :  the  vertical 
lines  at  the  margins,  and  between  them  a  line  rising  and  falling,  a  triangle, 
its  apex  formed  by  the  bending  figures  of  Mary  and  Elizabeth,  and  its  base 
terminated  by  the  seated  woman  on  the  left  and  the  boy  on  the  right. 
The  triangle  is  not  equilateral,  the  longer  line  is  on  Mary's  side,  the 
shorter  on  that  of  Elizabeth.  The  nude  boy  beneath  has  not  stretched 
out  his  leg  by  chance  :  it  was  essential  that  he  should  continue  the  line  in 
this  direction.  Everything  works  together,  and  every  single  figure 
participates  in  the  dignity  and  solemnity  of  the  great  and  uniformly 
harmonious  theme.  It  is  obvious  that  the  picture  is  greatly  indebted 
to  the  altar-pieces  of  Era  Bartolonnneo.  An  artist  of  the  second  rank, 
sustained  by  the  great  epoch,  has  produced  a  really  important  and 
effective  work  here. 

The  Sposal'iz'io  of  Franciabigio  seems  somewhat  thin  and  meagre  in 
comparison,  in  spite  of  the  delicacy  of  its  details.  We  may  therefore  pass 
it  over. 

2.  The  Frescoes  of  the  Scalzo 

On  the  walls  of  the  little  colonnaded  courtyard  of  the  Scalzi 
(Barefooted  Friars),  Andrea  del  Sarto  painted  the  story  of  John  the 
Baptist,  not  in  colour,  but  in  monochrome,  and  in  modest  dimensions. 

Two  of  the  frescoes  are  by  Franciabigio,  the  other  ten  and  the  four 
allegorical  figures  are  entirely  by  Sarto's  own  hand.  They  are  not  uniform 
in  style,  for  the  work  dragged  on  for  fifteen  years  w  ith  many  interruptions, 
so  that  almost  the  whole  development  of  the  artist  may  be  traced  here. 

Painting  in  chiaroscuro  or  monochrome  had  long  been  practised. 
Cennino  Annini  says  that  it  is  adopted  on  surfaces  which  are  exposed 
bo  the  weather.  It  is  also  found  in  conjunction  with  colour  painting  in 
places  of  minor  importance,  such  as  parapets  or  dark  w^alls  with  windows. 
But  in  the  sixteenth  century  a  certain  predilection  was  shown  for  it,  which 
is  comprehensible  in  connection  with  the  new  style. 

The  small  courtyard  has  a  delightful  air  of  repose.  The  unity  of 
colour,  the  harmony  of  frescoes  and  architecture,  the  style  of  the  frame- 
work, all  combine  to  give  the  pictures  an  admirable  setting.  The  student 
of  Sarto  will  not  expect  to  find  the  significance  of  these  works  in  their 


1 


ANDREA   DEL  SARTO 


163 


psychical  moments.  The  St.  John  is  a  dull  preacher  of  repentance  and 
the  scenes  of  terror  have  no  striking  dramatic  effects.  AVe  must  not 
expect  strong  characterisation,  but  Sarto  is  always  clear  and  full  of  beau- 
tiful movement.  AVe  see  here  how  the  interest  of  the  age  tended  more 
and  more  to  concentrate  itself  on  beauty  of  form,  and  how  the  merit  of  a 
story  was  assessed  according  to  its  adaptation  to  a  given  space. 
We  will  discuss  the  frescoes  in  the  order  of  their  completion. 

1.  The  Baptism  of  Christ.  (1511).  This  picture  may  at  once  be  recog- 
nised as  the  earliest  of  the  series,  by  the  way  in  which  the  figures  fail  to 
fill  the  space,  but  stand  about  in  detached  groups.  There  is  too  much 
room.  The  finest  figure  is  that  of  Christ,  which  is  marvellously  delicate 
in  the  action  and  light  in  effect.  The  weight  of  the  body  is  taken  off 
the  right  leg,  but  the  heels  are  quietly  brought  together.  The  legs  are 
partly  crossed,  and  the  narrowing  of  the  silhouette  near  the  knees  gives 
an  unusually  elastic  effect.  It  is  to  be  noticed  that  the  feet  are  not 
immersed  in  the  water,  but  are  still  visible.  Some  minor  schools  of  idealists 
had  always  so  represented  them,  but  the  interests  of  plastic  clearness  now 
required  it.  Similarly,  the  uncovering  of  the  liips  meets  the  demand  for 
a  more  distinct  image.  The  old  loin-cloth,  tied  horizontally,  interrupted 
the  line  of  the  body  precisely  where  the  greatest  clarity  was  required. 
Here  the  apron  which  falls  diagonally  not  only  gives  distinctness  but  a 
pleasing  line  of  contrast  results  spontaneously.  The  hands  of  the  Saviour 
are  crossed  on  His  breast,  not  clasped  in  prayer  as  formerly. 

We  shall  not  find  the  same  delicacy  in  the  St.  John.  There  is  still 
some  timidity  in  the  angular  irregular  figure.  The  only  improvement  is 
that  he  is  standing  still ;  Ghirlandajo  and  Verrocchio  had  represented  him 
in  the  act  of  stepping  forward.  The  angels  have  a  family-likeness  to  the 
still  more  beautiful  pair  in  the  picture  of  the  Annunciation  (1512). 

2.  The  Preaching  of  John  the  Baptist,  {ca. 1515).  Here  the  figures  are 
larger  in  proportion  to  the  pictorial  space,  and  the  more  massive  filling  of 
the  surface  at  once  gives  the  picture  a  different  appearance.  The  scheme 
of  composition  suggests  Ghirlandajo's  fresco  in  S.  ]Maria  Novella.  The 
raised  figure  in  the  middle  and  the  disposition  of  the  circle  of  listeners 
with  the  standing  figures  at  the  sides  are  identical  ;  as  is  also  the  turn  of 
the  preacher  towards  the  right.  Thus  some  examination  of  the  deviations 
in  details  is  all  the  more  justifiable. 

Ghirlandajo  represents  his  orator  as  enforcing  his  words  by  stepping 

M  2 


164  THE    ART   OP   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


The  Preaching  of  John  the  Baptist,  by  Andrea  del  Sarto. 

forward  ;  Sarto  places  all  the  movement  in  a  turn  of  the  figure  upon  its 
own  axis.  This  turn  is  at  once  (juieter  and  more  expressive.  Here,  too, 
the  marked  contraction  of  the  silhouette  at  the  knees  is  especially 
effective.  The  anti(][uated  oratorical  gesture,  the  extended  forefinger, 
now  seems  petty  and  feeble.  The  hand  is  made  to  be  effective  as  a  mass,  and 
while  in  the  one  picture  the  arm  is  kept  stiff  in  the  same  plane,  in  the 
other  it  is  extended  more  freely  and  acquires  a  new  vitality  from  the 
foreshortening.  The  expressive  action  of  the  limbs,  and  the  clear 
definition  of  the  whole  figure  afford  a  splendid  example  of  Cinquecentist 
drawing. 

Sarto  has  less  space  to  exhibit  his  audience.  He  was  able  however  to 
produce  the  effect  of  numbers  more  convincingly  than  Ghirlandajo,  who 
only  creates  bewilderment  with  his  score  of  heads,  each  intended  to  be 
seen  singly.    The  figures  which  close  the  composition  on  either  side  give 


ANDREA   DEL  SARTO 


165 


The  Preaching  of  .John  the  Baptist,  hy  (jhirhindajo. 


an  effect  of  iiiass,^  and  the  preacher  s  gesture,  addressed  to  persons  not 
not  visible  in  the  picture,  tends  to  heighten  the  impression  of  multitude. 

The  imposing  effect  of  the  central  figure  in  Sarto's  fresco  is  to  be 
explained  not  only  by  the  relative  scale  of  size,  but  by  the  fact  that  every- 
thing is  calculated  to  throw  the  chief  accent  upon  it.  Even  the  landscape 
is  designed  with  this  end  in  view.  It  forms  a  solid  background  to  the 
preacher  and  gives  him  atmosphere  in  front.  The  orator  stands  out  as  a 
detached  tangible  silhouette,  whereas  in  Ghirlandajo's  version  not  only  is 
he  planted  in  the  middle  of  the  crowd,  but  he  conflicts  unhappily  with 
the  lines  of  the  background. 

3.  The  Baptism  of  the  People.  (1517).  The  style  now  tends  to  become 
restless.    The  drapery  is  jagged  and  irregular,  the  movement  exaggerated. 

1  As  is  well  known,  the  man  with  the  cowl,  as  well  as  the  woman  sitting  and  holding 
lip  her  child  are  borrowed  from  Diirer. 


IGf)  THE    ART   OP   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


The  minor  figures,  which  were  intended  to  reheve  the  severe  design  by  the 
charm  of  the  incidental,  exceed  their  function.  The  figure  of  a  nude 
youth  who,  with  his  back  turned  to  the  spectator,  looks  Hstlessly  down,  is 
very  characteristic  of  the  master. 

4.  The  Arrest.  (1517).  This  episode  also,  though  singularly  ill  adapted 
for  the  purpose,  is  made  the  main  subject  of  a  composition.  Herod  and 
John  are  not  placed  opposite  each  other,  profile  to  profile,  but  the  prince 
sits  in  the  middle,  the  Ba})tist  opposite  to  him  diagonally  on  the  right^ 
while  to  restore  the  svnnnetrv  Ave  have  on  the  left  the  impressive  figure  of  a 
spectator  with  his  back  turned.  But  as  John  has  a  gaoler  on  each  side,  the 
fresco  re(|uires  another  counterpoise,  and  this  is  given  by  the  (unsymmetrical) 
figure  of  the  captain  of  the  watch  advancing  from  the  depth  of  the  picture 
to  the  left.  The  rich  group  of  the  arrest  has  a  very  vivid  effect  compared 
with  the  massive  repose  of  the  one  standing  figure  seen  from  behind. 
We  may  grant  that  this  is  nothing  more  than  a  draped  lay  figure  ;  never- 
theless such  calculations  of  contrast  imply  an  advance  in  art  for  Florence. 
Formerly  it  was  customary  to  arrange  the  figures  uniformly,  and  to  express 
movement  uniformly.  Besides  this,  the  figure  of  John,  who  has  some  diffi- 
culty in  fixing  the  king  with  his  eye,  is  very  beautiful.  Even  if  the  gaolers 
miglit  be  more  vigorous  in  their  action,  the  mistake  at  any  rate  is  avoided, 
into  which  others  have  fallen,  of  making  their  gestures  so  violent  that 
attention  is  distracted  from  the  central  figure. 

5.  SdJoinc  Da)inug.  (1522).  The  dance  which  was  formerly  inappro- 
priately combined  with  the  scene  where  the  head  of  John  is  brought  to 
Salome,  is  here  treated  in  a  separate  picture.  Andrea  seems  to  have  found 
the  subject  very  attractive,  and  the  dancing  Salome  is  one  of  his  most 
beautiful  creations,  enchantingly  harmonious  in  movement.  The  figure 
shows  no  violent  movement,  the  action  being  confined  to  the  upper  part  oi 
the  body.  A  contrast  to  the  dancer  is  provided  by  the  figure  of  the 
retainer,  his  back  turned  to  the  spectator,  who  brings  in  the  platter.  It  is 
necessary  to  compare  the  two  figures  :  the  one  is  the  complement  of  the 
other,  and  it  is  due  to  the  position  of  the  retainer  further  back  in  the 
picture  that  the  momentary  pause  of  Salome,  a  most  dramatic  touch, 
produces  its  full  effect.  TIk^  style  has  become  calmer  again,  the  line  more 
flowing.  The  picture  is  an  admirable  example  of  ideal  simplicity  of  scene 
and  suppression  of  all  unnecessary  details. 

6.  The  Beheading'.  (1523).    It  might  have  been  thought  impossible  for 


ANDREA   DEL  SARTO 


167 


Salome  Dancing  ljufore  Herod,  hy  Andrea  del  Sarto. 


Sarto,  in  this  theme,  to  have  avoided  the  representation  of  violent  physical 
action.  The  headsman  brandishing  his  sword  is  a  favourite  figure  with 
artists  who  have  sought  movement  for  its  own  sake.  But  Sarto  evaded  the 
obhgation.  He  does  not  give  the  execution,  but  the  quiet  incident  of  the 
gaoler  placing  the  head  in  the  platter  which  Salome  holds  out.  He  stands 
in  the  middle,  with  legs  far  apart ;  she  is  on  the  left,  and  on  the  other 
side  stands  an  officer ;  thus  again  we  have  a  central  composition.  The 
sight  of  the  bloody  head  is  obtruded  as  little  as  possible. 

7.  The  Offering.  (1523).  Once  more  the  banqueters.  This  time  the 
figures  are  placed  further  back  ;  it  is  a  narrower  picture.  The  young  girl 
carrying  the  head  is  as  graceful  as  she  was  in  the  dance.  The  stiff 
attitudes  of  the  spectators  form  the  contrast  to  the  elegant  turn  of  her 
figure.  The  more  lively  action  is  brought  into  the  middle.  The  sides 
of  the  picture  are  filled  in  with  pairs  of  figures. 

8.  The  Annoimcement  to  Zacharia.s'.  (1523).  The  artist  was  now  sure  of 
himself.    He  had  methods  of  his  own  bv  which  he  attained  definite  results 


168  THE    ART   OF   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 

under  all  conditions,  and  relying  on  this,  he  allowed  himself  more  and  more 
airiness  of  treatment.  The  convention  of  the  side-figures  does  duty  once 
more.  The  angel  advances  into  the  background  ;  he  bows  silently  with 
crossed  arms  before  the  priest,  who  recoils  in  amazement.  Everything  is  super- 
ficially suggested,  but  the  absolute  confidence  shown  in  the  economy  of 
effects  and  the  calm  solemnity  of  the  architectonic  setting  give  a  dignity 
to  the  representation,  which  Giotto  himself,  who  felt  so  much  more  deeply, 
would  have  found  it  difficult  to  equal. 

9.  The  Visitation.  (1524).  The  synnnetrical  side-figures  are  abandoned. 
The  main  group  of  the  women  embracing  is  placed  diagonally,  and  this 
diagonal  determines  the  whole  composition.  The  figures  form  a  qiilncuna^ 
i.e.  they  are  arranged  like  the  five  pips  on  a  die.  The  architectonic  back- 
ground gives  a  sense  of  calm. 

10.  The  Naming.  (1526).  Once  more  a  fresh  scheme.  The  nurse 
with  the  new-born  child  stands  in  the  centre  of  the  first  zone,  facing 
Joachim  seated  at  the  side.  A  seated  female  figure  on  the  other  side  is  an 
exact  pendant.  The  mother  in  bed  and  a  servant  are  symmetrically  inserted 
in  the  second  zone  between  the  figures  of  the  foreground.  Vasari  speaks  of 
a  ringrandimento  della  maniera"  (increased  grandeur  of  style),  and  eulo- 
gises the  picture.  So  far  as  I  see  there  is  no  specially  new  style  in  it.  All 
the  elements  had  served  before,  and  the  peculiarly  bad  condition  of  this 
fresco  does  not  even  prompt  the  wish  to  see  more  of  it.  We  can  see  all 
that  Sarto  cared  to  give  at  that  late  period. 

The  two  pictures  which  Franciabigio  contributed  to  this  cycle  both 
bear  eaily  dates.  As  the  inferior  artist  he  does  not  appear  to  advantage 
by  the  side  of  Sarto.  Merely  to  instance  one  case,  where  the  infant  John 
receives  the  paternal  blessing  (1518),  the  impetuosity  of  movement  in  the 
figure  of  the  father  produces  quite  an  antiquated  effect.  Subordinate 
figures,  in  themselves  very  beautiful,  such  as  the  boys  on  the  balustrade, 
are  too  conspicuous,  and  a  more  refined  artist  would  never  have  introduced 
the  broad  staircase  in  this  connection.  It  is  the  only  motive  in  the 
Scalzo  cloisters  which  offends  the  eye.  This  fresco  immediately  adjoins 
the  earliest  work  of  Andrea,  the  Baptism  of  Christy  which  it  surpasses  in 
size,  but  not  in  beauty. 

The  series  of  historical  pictures  is  interrupted — as  already  noticed — by 
four  allegorical  figures,  all  of  which  Sarto  painted.  They  are  intended  to 
imitate  statues  standing  in  niches.    The  arts  once  more  begin  to  amalga- 


ANDREA   DEL  SARTO 


169 


mate.  Hardlj  any  large  })ictorial 
composition  of  this  epoch  can  be 
found  in  which  recourse  has  not  been 
had  to  plastic  art,  either  real  or 
imitated.  The  best  of  the  figures 
here  is  perhaps  the  Canta.s  who 
with  one  child  in  her  arms,  is  stoop- 
'ing  down  to  a  second  one,  merely 
bending  her  knee,  in  order  to  pre- 
serve her  e(|uilibrium.  There  is  a 
.similar  group  on  the  ceiling  of  the 
Heliodorus  Stanza,  in  the  picture  of 
Noah.  The  Juditid  is  clearly  sug- 
gested by  Sansovino's  similar  figure 
in  Rome  (S.  Maria  del  Popolo). 
One  foot,  however,  is  raised,  to  ob- 
tain more  movement.^  The  figure  l  e- 
appears  in  the  Madoniut  dellc  Arp'ic. 

3.  Madonnas  and  Saints 

The  abatement  of  earnestness  of 
conception  and  execution,  which  is 

perceptible  in  the  Scalzi  frescoes  from  about  the  year  1523  onwards,  does 
not  mean  that  the  artist  was  wearied  of  that  particular  task,  for  the  same 
symptoms  are  found  in  his  easel  pictures  of  the  same  date.  Andrea  became 
careless,  stereotyped,  confident  in  the  splendid  resources  of  his  art.  His 
works,  even  where  he  makes  an  obvious  effort,  no  longer  show  traces  of 
enthusiasm.  The  biographer  will  tell  us  why  this  came  about.  His 
youthful  works  do  not  lead  us  to  foresee  any  such  development.  No  better 
example  can  be  found  to  show  what  spirit  originally  animated  him,  than 
the  large  picture  of  the  Annunciation  in  the  Pitti  Palace,  which  Andrea 
must  have  painted  in  his  25th  or  26th  year. 

The  Mary  is  noble  and  severe,  as  Albertinelli  painted  her,  but  the 


Justice,  by  A.  Sansuvim 


^  Quattrocentist  taste  demanded  that  the  sword  should  be  held  upwards,  Cinquecentist 
that  it  should  be  lowered.  Sansovino  here  represents  the  old,  fSarto  the  new  style.  The 
same  remark  may  be  made  of  St.  Paul  with  his  sword.  A  colossal  statue,  like  that  of 
St.  Paul  by  P.  Romano  on  the  bridge  of  8t.  Angelo,  still  represents  the  old  type. 


170  THE   ART    OF   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


Tlie  Ainiunciatioii,  by  Andrea  del  f;,artt>. 


niovenieiit  shows  more  de- 
licacy of feeliiio;.  The  ana^el 
is  as  beautiful  as  Leonardo 
could  have  made  him, 
with  all  the  charm  of 
youthful  rapture  in  the 
bowed  and  slightly  in- 
clined head.  He  utters  his 
greeting,  stretching  out  his 
arm  towards  the  astonished 
Mary,  while  he  bends  his 
knee.  It  is  a  reyerent  salu- 
tation from  a  distance,  not 
the  impetuous  entrance  of 
a  school-girl,  as  with  Ghir- 
landajo  or  Lorenzo  di 
Credi.  The  angel  comes 
on  clouds,  for  the  first 
time  since  the  Gothic  cen- 
tury. The  miraculous  is  once  more  allowed  in  sacred  pictures.  The  strain 
of  rapture  which  has  been  struck  is  taken  up  and  continued  in  two 
attendant  angels,  with  curling  hair  and  softly  shadowed  eyes. 

Contrary  to  traditional  arrangement,  Mary  stands  to  the  left,  and  the 
angel  comes  from  the  right.  Andrea  perhaps  was  anxious  that  the  out- 
stretched arm  should  not  coyer  the  body.  It  is  this  that  gives  the  figure 
its  perfect  and  expressive  clarity.  The  arm  is  nude,  as  are  also  the  legs  of 
the  accompanying  angels,  and  the  draughtsmanship  certainly  betrays  the 
teaching  of  Michelangelo.  The  manner  in  which  the  left  hand  holds  the 
stalk  of  the  lily  is  quite  Michelangelesque.  The  picture  is  not  entirely 
free  from  distracting  detail,  but  the  architecture  of  the  background  is 
excellent  of  its  kind  and  very  novel.  It  gives  force  and  cohesion  to  the 
figures.  The  lines  of  the  landsca})e  also  harmonise  with  the  principal 
action. 

The  Pitti  Palace  contains  a  second  Anuu)iciatio)t,  of  Andrea's  later 
period  (1528),  originally  painted  in  a  lunette,  and  now  made  into  a  square 
picture.  It  is  a  complete  illustration  of  the  difference  between  his  early 
and  his  final  manner.    Far  superior  to  the  first  in  its  picturesque  bravura, 


I 


ANDREA   DEL  SARTO 


171 


this  second  representation 
shows  an  emptiness  of 
expression,  not  to  be  dis- 
guised bv  all  the  charm 
of  the  treatment  of  at- 
mosphere and  drapery.^ 

In  the  Madonna  dellc 
Arp'ie,  IVIarv  appears  as 
the  matm'e  woman  and 
Andrea  as  the  mature 
artist.  This  is  the  most 
regal  Madonna  in  Flor- 
ence, queenly  in  her  ap- 
pearance, and  conscious 
of  her  dignity,  very  dif- 
ferent to  RaphaeFs  Sis-tiiic 
Madonna^  who  is  utterly 
self-forgetful.  She  stands 
statues(|uely  on  a  pe- 
destal, looking  down. 
The  Child  hangs  on  her 
neck,  and  she  supports 

the  heavy  weight  lightly  on  one  arm.  The  other  is  stretched  downwards 
and  holds  a  book  restini*-  on  her  thii^h.    This  attain  is  a  motive  of  the 

o  o  o 

monumental  style.  There  is  nothing  motherly  or  intimate,  no  genre-Vikii 
toying  with  the  book  ;  merely  the  ideal  pose.  She  can  never  have  read 
or  wished  to  read  thus.  The  way  in  which  the  hand  is  outspread  over 
the  edges  of  the  book  is  a  remarkably  fine  example  of  the  grand  gestm-es. 
of  the  Cinquecento.'^ 

The  companion  figures,  St.  Francis  and  St.  John  the  Eyangelist,  both 
rich  in  movement,  are  made  subordinate  to  the  Madonna  by  only  appearing 

1  The  pictures  are  confounded  in  the  Cicerone,  and  a  third  Aniutnciation  in  the 
Pitti  Palace  maj^  be  set  aside  altogether.  The  dubious  painting  (an  Annunriation  with 
two  attendant  saints)  is— as  regards  the  figure  of  Mary— only  a  repetition  of  the  figure  of 
1528,  and  is  clearly  by  an  inferior  hand.  Other  motives  have  been  taken  from  different 
sources.  The  notice  in  Vasari,  V.  17  (note  2)  is  obviously  an  error  :  the  work  cannot 
belong  to  the  period  of  1514. 

'■^  On  the  model  of  the  Peter  in  Raphael's  Madonna  del  Baldacchino. 


The  jVIiiduniia  dellc  Arpie,  by  Andiea  del  Sart( 


« 


172  THE   ART   OF   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


in  profile.  The  figures, 
brought  closely  together, 
form  one  complex  whole. 
The  suggestive  group  ac- 
(juires  fresh  force  from 
the  conditions  of  space  in 
the  picture  ;  there  is  not 
an  inch  of  superfluous 
room,  the  figures  actually 
touch  the  frame.  Yet, 
strangely  enough,  no  feel- 
ing of  contraction  is 
}3roduced.  One  of  the 
counteracting  causes  is 
the  upward  spring  of  the 
two  pilasters. 

The  pictorial  rich- 
ness of  the  presentation 
equals  its  plastic  force. 
Andrea    tries  to  entice 

JMsputii,  l)y  Aii.bea  del  Saito.  the     CVC     frOUl     the  sil- 

houettes  on  which  it 
might  dwell,  and,  in  place  of  the  connected  line,  offers  it  isolated  brilliant 
contours.  Here  and  there  an  illuminated  [part  gleams  out  of  the  dim 
light,  only  to  disappear  once  more  in  the  shadow.  The  uniformly  bright 
expansion  of  the  contours  in  the  light  is  discontinued.  The  eye  is  con- 
tinually passing  with  pleasure  from  one  point  to  another,  and  the  result 
is  a  living,  tactile  quality  in  the  figures,  far  surpassing  all  preceding 
splendours  of  modelling  on  the  flat. 

A  still  higher  pictorial  stage  is  marked  by  the  picture  of  the  Dhputa 
in  the  Pitti  Palace.  Four  men  standing,  engaged  in  conversation.  We 
are  involuntarily  reminded  of  Nanni  di  Banco's  group  in  Or  San  ]\Iichele. 
Here,  however,  we  have  no  mere  indifferent  Quattrocentist  gathering,  but  a 
real  argument  in  which  the  roles  are  distinctly  distributed.  The  Bishop 
(Augustine  ?)  is  speaking,  and  the  person  addressed  is  Peter  Martyr,  the 
Dominican,  a  refined  intellectual  head,  in  comparison  with  which  all 
Bartolommeo's  types  seem  coarse.    He  is  listening  intently.    St.  Francis, 


ANDREA   DEL  SARTO 


173- 


on  the  contrary,  lays  his  hand  on  his  heart  and  shakes  his  head  :  he  is 
no  dialectician.  St.  Lawrence,  as  the  yoinigest,  refrains  from  any 
expression  of  opinion.  He  is  the  neutral  foil,  and  plays  the  same  part 
here,  as  the  Magdalen  in  Raphael's  picture  of  St.  CccU'hi  ;  like  hers,  his 
figure  makes  a  strongly  accentuated  vertical  line. 

The  stiffness  of  a  group  of  four  standing  figures  is  lessened  by  the 
addition  of  two  kneeling  figures  in  the  foreground  (a  little  lower  down). 
These  are  St.  Sebastian  and  the  Magdalen,  who  take  no  part  in  the 
discussion,  but,  in  compensation,  form  the  richest  colour-passages  of  the 
composition.  Sarto  gives  them  bright  flesh-tints,  while  the  men  are  in  a 
sober  key,  chiefly  grey,  black  and  brown,  with  a  passage  of  subdued 
carmine  quite  in  the  background  (in  the  figure  of  St.  Lawrence).  The 
background  is  dark. 

In  colour  and  drawing  this  picture  marks  the  zenith  of  Andrea's  art. 
The  nude  back  of  the  Sebastian  and  the  upturned  head  of  the  Magdalen 
are  marvellous  interpretations  of  human  form.  And  then  the  hands ! 
How^  feminine  is  their  delicate  clasp  in  the  Magdalen,  and  how  expressive 
their  form  in  the  disputants  !  It  may  be  said  that  no  artist  has  drawn 
hands  with  such  skill  as  Andrea,  if  we  except  Leonardo. 

There  is  a  second  picture  of  four  standing  figures  in  the  Academy, 
which  was  painted  some  ten  years  later  (1528),  and  indicates  the  develop- 
ment and  the  decay  of  Andrea's  style.  It  is  bright  in  tone,  like  all  his. 
later  work  ;  the  heads  are  loosely  modelled,  but  the  grouping  and  treatment 
of  the  figures  are  marked  by  all  Andrea's  skill  and  brilliance.^  We  see  how- 
easy  it  was  for  him  to  produce  compositions  so  rich  in  effect,  but  the  im- 
pression produced  is  purely  superficial. 

The  Madonna  delle  Arp'te  had  no  worthy  successor.  The  theme,  which 
had  recently  become  fashionable,  of  the  Madonna  in  a  nimbus  or  rather 
in  clouds,  nuist  have  been  peculiarly  well  adapted  to  Andrea's  taste.  He 
opened  the  heavens,  and  let  an  intense  brilliance  appear,  and,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  style  of  the  day,  brought  the  Madonna  low  doww  on  her 
clouds,  into  the  middle  of  a  band  of  encircling  saints.  The  variations  on 
standing  and  kneeling  figures,  and  the  sy.stematic  employment  of  contrasts 
between  turning  outwards  or  inwards,  of  looking  up  or  down,  etc.,  are 
more  or  less  matters  of  course,  ])ut  Sarto  adds  to  this  the  contrasts  of 

^  There  were  originally  two  "  putti  "  in  the  centre,  which  have  been  taken  out,  and 
hung  separately. 


174  THE    ART   OP   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


bright  and  dark  heads, 
and  in  the  distribution 
of  these  accents  no  re- 
spect is  paid  to  the  source 
of  the  hght  and  shadow. 
A  general  strongly 
marked  undulation  in  the 
picture  is  kept  in  view 
throughout.  W  e  soon 
perceive  that  the  effects 
are  won  bv  a  somewhat 
stereotyped  receipt,  but 
there  is  undeniably  a 
certain  inevitability  in 
the  impression  produced, 
which  springs  from  An- 
drea's own  temperament. 

Let  us  instance,  as  an 
example,  the  Madonna  of 
1524  (Pitti).    We  must 

The  .Aladonna  with  six  Saints  (1524),  by  Andrea  del  Sartcj.  ^^^^    look    for    character  ; 

the  Madonna  is  indeed 
absolutely  connnonplace.  The  two  kneeling  figures  are  repeated  from 
the  picture  of  the  Disputa,  with  the  characteristic  additions  of  the  more 
practised  hand.  The  St.  Sebastian  may  have  been  painted  from  the  same 
model  as  the  well-known  half-length  of  the  youthful  St.  John  (see  below). 
Here  the  master's  taste  has  led  him  so  to  treat  the  contour,  that  it  is 
comparatively  meaningless ;  all  the  expression  is  given  to  the  bright 
expanse  of  the  bare  breast. 

Finally  all  his  powers  are  exhibited  in  the  great  Berlin  picture  of  1 528. 
The  clouds  are  here  enclosed  in  a  well-defined  architectonic  framework, 
just  as  they  appear  in  Bartolommeo's  pictures.  Then  there  is  a  niche, 
intersected  by  the  frame  :  and  we  have  the  motive  of  the  staircase,  with 
the  saints  on  the  steps,  Avho  could  thus  be  strongly  differentiated  by  their 
position  in  the  space.  The  foremost  figures  appear  only  as  half-lengths,  a 
motive  which  high  art  had  hitherto  intentionally  avoided. 

Of  the  Ho^u  Families  we  may  say  what  has   already  been  said  of 


J 


ANDREA   DEL  SARTO 


175 


The  Madonna  del  Sacco,  by  A)idrea  del  Sarto. 


RaphaeFs  versions  of  this  theme.  Andrea's  artistic  aim  also  was  to 
produce  rich  effects  in  a  small  space.  He  makes  his  figures  stoop 
and  kneel,  thus  bringing  them  close  to  the  bottom  of  the  picture,  and 
making  knots  of  three,  four,  and  five  persons.  The  ground  is  usually 
black.  There  is  a  series  of  pictures  of  the  kind.  The  best  are  those 
where  the  spectator  is  first  impressed  by  the  naturalness  of  the  gestures, 
and  afterwards  thinks  of  the  problems  of  form.  The  Madojuia  del  Sacco 
of  1524  (Cloisters  of  the  Annuiiziata,  Florence)  holds  a  special  position^ 
even  compared  with  the  works  of  Raphael.  This  picture  is  a  splendid 
example  of  tender  and  accomplished  fresco- work  in  general,  and  of  pictur- 
esque effects  of  drapery  in  particular.  It  has  the  further  merit  of  a  bold- 
ness of  design  in  the  arrangement  of  the  figures  never  again  achieved  by 
the  master.  ]\lary  is  not  sitting  in  the  middle  of  the  picture,  but  to  one 
side.  The  balance  of  the  composition  is  restored  by  the  Joseph  opposite. 
Being  further  in  the  background  he  appears  smaller  as  a  mass,  but  owing 
to  his  greater  distance  from  the  central  axis  of  the  picture  he  has  an 
equal  value  in  its  equilibrium.  A  few  clear  general  indications  f  direction 
ensure  a  monumental  effect  at  a  distance.     Very  simple  outlines  are 


176 


combined  with  great  richness  of  content.  The  magnificent  breadth  of  the 
motive  of  the  Madonna  is  due  to  the  low  position  in  which  she  is  seated. 
Her  upturned  head  will  never  fail  to  impress,  even  if  we  feel  the  impression 
to  be  superficial.  The  point  of  sight  is  low,  corresponding  to  the  actual 
position  of  the  fresco,  which  is  over  a  door. 

Among  Andrea's  single  figures  of  saints,  the  youthful  John  the 
Baptist  in  the  Pitti  is  world-famed.  It  is  one  of  the  half-dozen  pictures 
which  are  invariably  to  be  found  in  the  windows  of  the  photograph- 
sellers  during  the  tourist-season  in  Italy.  It  might  not  be  uninteresting  to 
ask  how  long  it  has  held  this  position,  and  to  what  fluctuations  of  fashion 
these  recognised  favourites  of  the  public  are  liable.  The  strenuous, 
impassioned  beauty,  for  which  it  is  praised  (Cicerone),  evaporates  at  once 
when  it  is  compared  with  Raphael's  boyish  St.  John  in  the  Tribuna.  But 
it  nuist  be  admitted  to  be  the  presentment  of  a  handsome  lad.^  The 
picture  unfortunately  has  been  much  damaged,  and  we  can  only  guess  at 
the  intended  pictorial  effect  of  the  flesh-tints  emerging  from  the  dark 
background.  The  grip  of  the  hand  with  the  turn  of  the  wrist  is  in 
Andrea's  best  manner.  A  characteristic  point  is  the  way  in  which  he 
interrupts  the  outline,  and  allows  one  side  of  the  body  to  disappear  com- 
pletely. The  bunch  of  drapery,  which  was  intended  to  suggest  a  contrast 
in  direction  to  the  dominating  vertical  line,  foreshadows  the  extravagance 
of  the  seventeenth  century.  It  may  be  compared  with  Sebastiano's  Violin- 
Flmjer  as  regards  the  shifting  of  the  figure  to  one  side  and  the  empty  space 
to  the  right. 

This  St.  John  has  a  companion  picture  in  the  seated  figure  of  St. 
Agnes  in  the  Cathedral  of  Pisa,  one  of  the  most  charming  works  of  the 
master,  in  which  he  seems  for  once  to  have  approached  the  expression  of 
the  ecstatic,  though  the  actual  result  is  merely  a  half  timid  upward  glance. 
Those  highest  realms  of  inspiration  were  quite  beyond  his  reach,  and  it 
was  a  mistake  to  entrust  such  a  subject  as  the  Assumption  to  him.  He 
painted  it  twice,  and  the  pictures  hang  in  the  Pitti.  As  might  have  been 
foreseen,  neither  expression  nor  movement  is  adequate.  What  can  we 
think  when,  after  1520,  we  find  the  Virgin  of  the  Assumption  depicted  as 
a  seated  figure  !  Even  so,  however,  some  more  suitable  solution  might 
have  been  found.    But  Sarto's  rendering  of  prayer  is  as  meaningless  as 

^  Sarto  used  the  same  model  for  the  Isaac  of  his  Abraham' a  Sacrifice  (Dresden),  which 
was  painted  soon  after  1520.    I  think  he  is  to  be  recognised  also  in  the  Madonna  of  1524. 


177 


the  ludicrous  look  of  enibarrassnient 
with  which  Mary  grasps  the  mantle 
on  her  lap.  He  has  twice  made 
St.  John  the  chief  figure  of  the 
Apostles  round  the  grave,  and  given 
him  that  delicate  movement  of  the 
hands  which  is  found  in  his  youthful 
pictures.  It  is  impossible,  however, 
to  entirely  shake  off  the  impression 
of  conscious  elegance,  and  the  ex- 
citement of  the  astonished  Apostles 
is  never  very  intense.  Yet  after  all, 
this  placidity  is  far  pleasanter  than 
the  noisiness  of  the  Roman  school 
among  the  followers  of  Raphael. 

The  illumination  is  so  con- 
trived that  the  brilliancy  of  Heaven 
should  find  a  contrast  in  the  dark- 
ness of  the  scene  on  earth.  In  the 
second  and  later  picture,  however,  he 

left  a  bright  rift  open  from  the  very  bottom,  and  a  greater  master  of 
movement,  Rubens,  followed  him  in  this,  for  it  is  inadvisable  to  bisect 
a  picture  of  the  Assumption  with  so  strongly  defined  a  horizontal  line. 

The  two  kneeling  saints  in  the  first  Assumption  are  derived  from 
Fra  Bartolommeo.  In  the  second  version  the  motive  of  the  three-quarter 
length  figures  in  the  foreground  was  retained,  and  for  the  sake  of  a  contrast, 
a  certain  petty  detail  was  again  admitted  :  one  of  the  men,  here  an 
Apostle,  looks  out  of  the  picture  at  the  spectator  during  the  solemn  scene. 
This  is  the  beginning  of  the  unconcerned  figures  in  the  foregrounds  of  the 
Seicentists.  The  forms  of  art  had  already  been  misused  as  meaningless 
formulae. 

We  need  say  nothing  about  the  Pkta  in  the  Pitti  Palace. 


St.  John  the  Baptist,  by  Andrea  del  Sarto. 


4.    A  PoRTRArr  of  Andrea 

Andrea  did  not  paint  many  portraits,  and  he  would  not  prima  facie 
be  credited  with  any  special  qualifications  for  the  task,  but  there  are  some 

N 


1 


178  THE    ART   OF   THE    ITALTAN  RENAISSANCE 


youthful  male  portraits  by  hiiu,  which  attract  the  spectator  by  a 
mysterious  charm.  These  are  the  two  well-known  heads  in  the  Uffizi  and 
the  Pitti,  and  the  half-length  figure  in  the  National  Gallery,  London. 
They  show  all  the  nobility  of  Andrea's  best  manner,  and  we  feel  that  the 
painter  has  expressed  himself  here  with  peculiar  significance.  It  is  not 
surprising  that  they  have  passed  for  portraits  of  himself.  But  it  mav 
be  definitely  said  that  -  they  cannot  be  such.  The  case  is  identical  with 
that  of  Hans  Holbein  the  younger,  where  a  prejudice,  hard  to  eradicate, 
was  early  formed  in  favour  of  the  handsome  unknown. 

A  genuine  portrait  is  extant  (a  drawing  in  the  collection  of  portraits 
of  painters  in  Florence)  but  there  is  a  reluctance  to  draw  the  obvious 
conclusion  that  it  excludes  others,  because  the  idea  of  the  more  beautiful 
type  is  reluctantly  abandoned.  The  genuine  portrait  of  the  youthful 
Andrea  is  found  in  the  fresco  of  the  Procession  of  the  Kings  in  the  court 
of  the  Annunziata,  and  his  likeness  as  an  older  man  is  in  the  collection  of 
Painters'  Portraits  (Utfizi).  They  can  be  positively  identified  ;  Vasari  speaks 
of  both.  The  pictures  mentioned  above  are  irreconcilable  with  these, 
in  fact  they  do  not  seem  to  agree  with  each  other ;  the  London  example 
and  the  Florentine  pictures  might  well  represent  a  different  man.  The  two 
latter  may  be  reduced  to  one,  since  they  correspond  line  for  line,  to  the 
very  details  of  the  folds.  The  example  in  the  Uffizi  is  clearly  the  copy, 
and  the  original  is  the  picture  in  the  Pitti,  which,  although  not  intact, 
shows  more  delicate  workmanship.^    We  shall  only  speak  of  this  one. 

The  head  stands  out  from  a  dark  background.  It  is  not  sharply 
relieved  against  a  black  surface,  as  is  sometimes  the  case  in  Perugino's 
portraits,  but  remains  almost  modestly  in  the  greenish  shadow.  The 
strongest  light,  does  not  fall  on  the  face,  but  on  a  scrap  of  shirt  accidentally 
displayed  at  the  neck.  The  hood  and  collar  are  neutral  in  tint,  grey 
and  brown.  The  large  eyes  look  calmly  out  of  their  orbits.  With  all  its 
(juivering  pictorial  vitality,  the  form  gains  absolute  firmness  by  the  vertical 
line  of  the  head,  the  full-face  view,  and  the  (juiet  application  of  light, 
which  relieves  one  half  of  the  head,  and  illuminates  exactly  the  necessary 
points.    The  head  seems  to  have  suddenly  turned  round  and  to  have 

^  The  Cicerone  holds  a  contrary  opinion  :  "  The  finest  (probably  his  own  portrait)  is 
in  the  Ufiizi  (No.  1147)  ;  there  is  a  re])lica,  of  inferior  merit,  in  tlie  Pitti  (No.  66)."  In  the 
posthumous  Beitrdge  ziir  Kunsff/ei^rliichfe  von  Italien,  J.  Burckhardt  protested  for  the  first 
time  against  the  presumption  that  the  piciures  are  portraits  of  the  painter  himself. 


ISupposed  Portrait  (^f  Himself,  by  Andrea  del  Sarto 


ANDREA   DEL  SARTO 


181 


presented  for  a  moment  the  view,  in  which  the  vertical  and  horizontal  axes 
are  seen  in  absolute  purity.  The  vertical  line  passes  right  up  to  the  peak 
of  the  cap.  The  simplicity  of  the  line,  and  the  repose  given  by  the  great 
masses  of  light  and  shade,  are  combined  with  that  clear  definition  of  form 
characteristic  of  Andrea's  mature  style.  A  firm  touch  is  everywhere 
distinguishable.  The  way  in  which  the  angle  between  the  eye  and 
nose  is  brought  out,  in  which  the  chin  is  modelled,  and  the  cheek-bone 
indicated,  recalls  the  style  of  the  Dhputa,  which  was  obviously  painted 
at  the  same  period. ^ 

This  delicate  and  intellectual  head  may  fairly  be  considered  an  ideal 
example  of  sixteenth  century  conceptions.  One  would  be  glad  to  include  it 
and  the  Viol'in-ijlayer^  to  which  it  bears  an  intrinsic  and  extrinsic  affinity, 
in  the  series  of  Artists'  Portraits.  In  any  case  it  is  one  of  the  finest 
examples  of  those  lofty  conceptions  of  the  human  form  in  the  Cinquecento, 
whose  common  inception  is  to  be  traced  to  Michelangelo.  The  impression 
of  the  genius  which  created  the  Delphic  Sibyl  is  unmistakable  here. 

The  meditative  youth  in  the  Salon  Carre  of  the  Louvre  may  be  men- 
tioned as  a  more  Leonardesque  pendant  to  this  portrait  of  Andrea's. 
This  fine  picture  has  borne  the  most  various  names,  but  is  now  rightly,  in 
my  opinion,  ascribed  to  Franciabigio,  as  is  also  the  dark  head  of  a  youth 
(of  1514)  in  the  Pitti  Palace,  whose  left  hand  rests  on  the  balustrade 
with  a  somewhat  antiquated  gesture.^  The  Paris  picture  was  painted  later 
than  this  (about  1520),  and  the  last  traces  of  stiffness  or  embarrassment 
have  disappeared.  The  young  man,  whose  soul  is  stirred  by  some  sorrow, 
gazes  before  him  with  downcast  eyes.  The  slight  turn  and  inclination  of 
the  head  have  an  extraordinarily  characteristic  effect.  One  arm  rests  on  a 
balustrade,  and  the  right  hand  is  laid  on  it.  This  action  again  has  some- 
thing personal  in  its  gentleness.  The  motive  is  not  dissimilar  to  that  of  the 
Monna  Lisa.  Here,  however,  everything  resolves  itself  into  a  momentary 
expression,  and  the  imposing  portrait  becomes  an  emoti(mal  study  with 
all  the  charm  of  a  genre  painting.  The  spectator  does  not  at  once  ask 
who  the  sitter  is,  but  is  interested  above  all  in  the  emotion  depicted.  The 

^  This  portrait  cannot  possibly  be  one  of  the  painter  by  himself,  for  when  he  painted 
in  this  style  he  was  no  longer  the  young  man  here  represented. 

^  The  movement  of  the  hand  reappears  in  the  chief  figure  of  Franciabigio's  Last  Swp'p^r 
(Calza,  Florence),  and  might,  in  the  last  instance,  be  traced  back  to  the  Christ  in 
Leonardo's  Ceiiacolo,  which  was  known  and  used  by  Franciabigio. 


! 


182  THE    ART   OP   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


deep  shadow  that  veils  the  eyes  serves  in  particular  to  characterise  the 
pensive  dreamer.  The  distant  horizon  is  also  an  expressive  factor.  The 
only  disturbing  effect  is  produced  l)y  the  space,  which  has  been  enlarged 
on  each  side.  Our  reproduction  attempts  to  restore  the  original  look  of 
the  picture. 

Peculiarly  modern  tones  echo  from  this  dreamy  work.  It  is  conceiyed 
with  far  greater  delicacy  than  I{a})haers  youthful  portrait  of  himself.  The 
sentiment  of  the  fifteenth  century  always  seems  somewhat  obtrusive  when 
compared  with  the  restrained  expression  of  emotion  in  the  classical  age. 


Portrait  of  a  Youth,  by  Fraiiciabigic. 


I 


VII 


MICHELANGELO  (ai  1520) 
1475—1564 

None  of  the  great  artists  exercised  from  the  very  first  so  profound  an 
influence  on  his  contemporaries  as  Michelangelo,  and  fate  willed  that  this 
mightiest  and  most  original  genius  should  also  enjoy  unusual  length  of 
life.  He  remained  at  work  almost  a  generation  after  all  his  contempo- 
raries had  sunk  into  the  grave.  Raphael  died  in  1520,  Leonardo  and 
Bartolommeo  even  earlier.  Sarto  lived  until  1531,  but  his  last  decade  was 
the  least  important  of  his  career,  and  we  see  no  sign  of  his  having  had  yet 
a  further  stage  of  development  before  him.  Michelangelo  never  was^ 
stationary  for  a  moment,  and  does  not  seem  to  have  concentrated  his 
powers  fully  till  the  second  half  of  his  life.  Then  he  gave  the  world  the 
Tombs  of  the  Medici,  the  Last  Judgment^  and  St.  Peter's.  Henceforth 
one  art  only  existed  for  Central  Italy,  and  Leonardo  and  Raphael  were- 
completely  forgotten  in  the  new  revelations  of  Michelangelo. 

1.  Thk  Chapkl  of  the  Medici 

The  memorial  chapel  of  S.  Lorenzo  is  one  of  the  rare  instances  in  the 
history  of  art,  in  which  building  and  figures  were  created  not  only  con- 
temporaneously, but  with  a  definite  regard  one  for  the  other.  The  whole 
fifteenth  century  was  disposed  to  regard  things  apart  from  their  surround- 
ings, and  found  beauty  in  the  beautiful  object  wherever  it  might  be  placed. 
In  magnificent  buildings  such  as  the  memorial  chapel  of  the  Cardinal  of 
Portugal  at  S.  Miniato  the  tomb  is  an  erection  which  happens  to  be 
placed  there,  but  which  might  just  as  well  have  been  anywhere  else,  without 


186  THE    ART   OF   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


iletrinient  to  its  effect.  Even  in  the  proposed  tomb  of  Julius,  Michel- 
angelo would  have  had  no  control  over  the  surroundings  ;  it  was  to  have 
been  a  building  inside  a  building.  But  the  proposition  that  he  should 
build  a  fdi^ddc  to  S.  Lorenzo  as  an  architectural  and  plastic  monument  to 
the  Medici  in  their  family  church  at  Florence  offered  the  possibility  of 
combining  figures  and  architecture  on  a  large  scale  with  a  definite 
calculation  of  effect.  The  plan  fell  through.  Though  the  architecture 
would  only  have  been  the  frame,  it  was  artistically  more  desirable  that  the 
new  scheme  for  the  chapel  should  not  only  afford  space  for  a  more  liberal 
use  of  sculpture,  but  should  put  the  lighting  entirely  into  the  hands  of  the 
artist.  ^Michelangelo  indeed  accepted  it  as  an  important  factor  in  his 
scheme.  In  his  figures  of  Xight  and  of  the  Poi.sero.so  he  contrived  that  the 
features  should  be  entirely  in  shadow,  an  effect  unprecedented  in  sculpture. 

The  chapel  contains  the  monuments  of  two  members  of  the  family  who 
died  in  youth,  Duke  Lorenzo  of  Urbino  and  Giuliano,  Duke  of  Nemours. 
An  earlier  plan,  which  aimed  at  a  more  extensive  representation  of  the 
family,  had  been  abandoned. 

The  scheme  of  the  tond^s  is  based  on  the  grouping  of  three  figures  :  the 
deceased,  not  sleeping,  but  a  living,  seated  figure,  and  on  the  sloping  lids  of 
•each  sarcophagus,  two  recannbent  figures  in  attendance.  In  this  case  Night 
and  Day  were  chosen  in  place  of  the  Virtues,  out  of  which  it  was  usual  to 
form  a  guard  of  honour  for  the  dead. 

A  peculiar  feature  in  this  arrangement  is  innnediately  noticeable.  The 
tomb  does  not  consist  of  an  architectural  design  with  figures,  placed  against 
the  wall.  The  sarcophagus  alone,  with  its  crowning  figures,  stands  free  ; 
the  hero  is  seated  in  the  wall  itself.  Two  elements  of  space,  quite  distinct, 
are  combined  to  produce  a  united  effect,  and  in  such  a  manner  that 
the  seated  fimn-e  is  brou^-ht  doAvn  as  low  as  the  heads  of  the  recumbent 
figures. 

Thesi'  latter  bear  the  strangest  relation  to  their  supporting  surfaces. 
The  lids  of  the  sarcophagi  are  so  narrow  and  so  steep  that  the  figures 
seem  doomed  to  slip  down.  It  has  been  conjectured  that  the  lids  were 
perhaps  intended  to  be  completed  by  terminal  volutes,  rising  from  the  ends, 
A\  hich  would  have  given  the  figures  support  and  security.  This  was  actually 
done  in  the  Tomb  of  Paul  III.  in  St.  Peters,  a  monument  inspired  by 
^Michelangelo.  On  the  other  hand  it  is  asserted  that  the  figures  would  be 
prejudiced  by  such  additions,  that  they  would  become  tame,  and  lose 


MICHELANGELO 


187 


the  elasticitv  which  they 
now  exhibit.  It  is  in 
any  case  probable  that  so 
unusual  an  arrangement, 
which  challenges  the  criti- 
cism of  every  amateur, 
must  be  due  to  an  author 
who  could  afford  to  run 
risks.  In  my  opinion  it 
was  Michelangelo's  de- 
liberate intention  to  lea\  e 
the  monument  in  its 
present  state. 

The  manner  in  which 
the  figures  are  supported 
is  not  the  only  jarring 
element ;  higher  up  there 
are  discords,  almost  in- 
comprehensible at  first 
sight.  The  figm^es  are 
allowed  to  cut  the  line 
of  the  cornice  of  the 
stylobate  behind  with  an  unprecedented  recklessness.  Here  the  sculpture 
is  clearly  at  war  with  its  lord  and  master,  architecture.  This  antagonism 
would  be  unendurable,  if  it  did  not  find  some  mitigation.  This  is  afforded 
by  the  third  and  concluding  figure,  in  its  perfect  union  with  its  niche. 
The  scheme  therefore  was  not  only  to  build  up  a  triangular  structure 
with  the  figures,  but  to  develop  the  figures  in  their  relation  to  the  archi- 
tecture. In  Sansovino's  work  eyerything  appears  uniformly  hushed  and 
concealed  within  the  space  of  the  niches,  but  here  we  are  met  by  a  discord 
which  has  to  be  resolved.  The  j)rinciple  is  identical  with  that  adopted 
by  Michelangelo  in  his  last  plan  for  the  tomb  of  Julius,  when  the  com- 
pression of  the   central  figure  is  disguised  })y  the  spacious  adjoining 

1  There  is  also  a  direct  proof  of  this.  In  a  drawing  in  the  British  Museum,  published 
by  Symonds  [Life  of  Michelaugdo,  I.  SS'l),  there  is  a  figure  on  a  similarly  constructed  lid. 
It  is  drawn  hastily,  but  is  quite  distinct. 


188  THE   ART   OF   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


compartments.  He  further  employed  these  new  artistic  effects  on  the 
vastest  scale  in  the  exterior  elevation  of  St.  Peter's.^ 

The  niche  enshrines  the  general  closely,  there  is  no  superfluous  space  to 
weaken  the  effect.  It  is  very  shallow,  so  that  the  statue  projects.  We 
cannot  here  discuss  the  further  working  of  the  master's  thought,  why  for 
instance,  the  central  niche  has  no  pediment  and  the  accent  is  shifted  to 
the  sides.  The  chief  intention  of  the  architectonic  arrangement  was  to  set 
off"  the  figures  by  means  of  a  variety  of  small  adjuncts,  and  this  perhaps 
was  also  the  justification  of  the  short  lids  of  the  sarcophagus.  The  figures 
resting  on  them  are  colossal,  but  they  are  intended  to  produce  a  colossal 
effect.  Nowhere  in  the  world  does  sculpture  produce  a  more  powerful 
impression  on  the  spectator.  The  architecture  with  its  slender  panels  and 
its  sparing  use  of  massive  motives  is  entirely  subordinated  to  the  effect  of 
the  figures. 

AVe  might  almost  suppose  that  the  figures  were  deliberately  made 
disproportionately  large  for  the  space.  One  remembers  how  hard  it  is 
to  stand  at  the  proper  distance  from  them  and  how  cramped  one  feels. 
And  then  we  read  that  four  more  figures  (recumbent  river-gods)  ^  were 
to  have  been  introduced.  The  impression  would  have  been  overpowering. 
These  are  effects  which  have  nothing  in  common  with  the  liberating  beauty 
of  the  Renaissance. 

Michelangelo  was  not  permitted  to  finish  his  work  unaided  (the 
chapel,  as  is  well  known,  received  its  present  form  from  \asari),  but  we 
may  assume  that  we  have  before  us  the  main  features  of  his  plan. 

Some  portions  of  the  chapel  have  been  stained  dark,  otherwise  it  is 
completely  in  monochrome,  white  on  white.  It  is  the  greatest  example  of 
the  modern  disuse  of  colour  (achromatism).^ 

The  recumbent  figures  of  Daij  and  Niglit^  Morning  and  Kvemng  take 
the  place  of  the  customary  Virtues.  Later  artists  continued  to  make  use 
of  the  latter  in  a  similar  connection,  but  the  motives  of  Day  and  Night 
offered  possibilities  of  characteristic  movement  so  much  greater  that 
Michelangelo's  determination  is  sufficiently  explained.  The  first  considera- 
tion was  the  necessity  of  a  recumbent  motive,  by  which,  in  combination 

^  Cf.  Wulfflin,  RenaUsance  und  Barocl;  p.  48. 
^'  Michelangelo,  Lettere  (ed.  Milanesi)  152. 

^  If  paintings  ever  existed  in  this  chapel  they  were  in  any  case  merely  monochromes. 
The  probability  seems  remote,  and  is  not  supported  by  the  records. 


189 


with  the  perpendicuhir  line  of  the  seated  figure,  he  was  able  to  achieve 
an  entirely  new  configuration. 

The  ancients  had  their  river-gods,  and  a  comparison  with  the  two 
splendid  antique  figures,  for  which  ^Michelangelo  himself  prepared  a  place 
of  honour  on  the  Capitol,  throws  an  instructive  light  on  his  style.  He 
enriches  the  plastic  motive  in  a  manner  that  leaves  all  previous  achieve- 
ments far  behind.  The  turn  of  the  body  in  Mornings  who  faces  the  spec- 
tator, and  the  way  in  which  the  upraised  knee  of  N'lffht  cuts  the  outline, 
are  incomparable.  The  figures  are  marvellously  stimulating,  because  of 
their  divergences  of  surface  and  contrasts  of  direction.  Yet  in  spite  of 
this  variety  the  effect  is  full  of  repose.  The  strong  tendency  towards 
formlessness  encounters  a  stronger  desire  for  form.  The  figures  are  not 
only  clear  in  the  sense  that  all  essential  clues  to  the  idea  are  furnished  and 
that  the  main  features  are  at  once  impressively  prominent,^  but  they  are 
enclosed  by  very  simple  boundaries.  They  are  enframed  and  stratified, 
and  might  be  considered  as  pure  reliefs.  The  MoDi'nig,  with  all  her  move- 
ment, is  strangely  panel-like  in  effect.  Her  raised  left  arm  quietly  suggests 
the  level  of  the  background,  and  every  thing  in  front  is  on  a  parallel  plane. 
Later  artists  learned  movement  from  Michelangelo  and  attempted  to 
surpass  him  in  it,  but  they  never  comprehended  his  repose.  Bernini  least 
of  all. 

Recumbent  figures  give  scope  for  very  striking  effects  of  contraposition, 
as  the  limbs,  with  their  opposing  movements,  can  be  brought  closely 
together.  But  the  significance  of  these  figures  is  not  confined  to  the 
problem  of  form  they  offer  ;  physical  phenomena  contribute  strongly  to 
the  effect.  The  wearied  man,  whose  limbs  relax,  is  a  touching  representa- 
tion of  Evening,  which  seems  also  to  typify  the  evening  of  life,  and  a 
reluctant  waking  Avas  never  more  convincingly  depicted  than  here. 

A  change  of  feeling  is  perceptible  in  all  these  figures.  Michelangelo 
no  longer  breathes  as  freely  and  gladly  as  in  the  Sistine  Chapel.  All  his 
movement  is  harsher,  stiffer,  more  abrupt.  His  bodies  are  ponderous  as 
mountain-boulders,  and  they  seem  to  obey  the  will  reluctantly  and  un- 
equally. The  two  pairs  of  figures  are  far  from  uniform  in  style.  Daij 
and  Night  were  obviously  later  than  the  others.  The  force  of  the  contrasts 
is  accentuated  in  them,  and  they  conflict  still  more  violently  with  the 

^  In  the  Night  the  right  arm  seems  to  be  lost  to  view,  but  this  is  only  apparent :  it  is 
in  the  unworked  piece  of  marble  above  the  mask. 


I 


190 


THE    ART   OF   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


architecture.  The  deceased  appear 
as  seated  figures.  These  tombs  do 
not  present  the  sleeping  image  of 
the  dead,  but  are  memorials  of  the 
living.  This  idea  had  been  antici- 
pated bv  Pollaiuolo  in  the  tomb  of 
Innocent  \  III.  in  St.  Peter  s.  There, 
however,  the  figure  of  the  Pope, 
giving  a  blessing,  does  not  appear 
alone,  but  is  introduced  together 
with  the  recumbent  corpse. 

Michelangelo  had  to  deal  with 
the  figures  of  two  great  soldiers.  It 
may  seem  surprising  that  he  should 
have  selected  a  sitting  posture,  and 
:  I   f  '  Mpr  indeed  an  indolently  sitting  posture, 

'm  *'  in  which  there  is  much  individuality, 

f  ^"Ifc^  m-    I  The  one  figure  is  absorbed  in  medi- 

tation, the  other  casts  a  momentary 
side-glance.  Neither  takes  an  official 
or  representative  pose.  The  concep- 
tion of  distinction  had  changed  since 
the  times  when  Verrocchio  made  his 
CoIIeofi/,  and  the  type  of  the  seated 
general  was  afterwards  retained  for 
the  statue  of  no  less  a  commander 
than  Giovanni  delle  Bande  Nere  (in 
the  Piazza  before  S.  Lorenzo).  The 
treatment  of  the  seated  figures  as  such  is  interesting  from  the  numerous 
earlier  solutions  of  the  problem  which  Michelangelo  had  already  given. 
The  one  resembles  the  Jcrem'iali  of  the  Sistine  ceiling,  the  other  the  Moms. 
In  both,  however,  we  note  characteristic  alterations  all  tending  to  increased 
richness  of  effect.  In  the  Ghdiano  (with  the  Marshal's  baton)  w^e  may 
instance  the  differentiation  of  the  knees  and  the  inequality  of  the  shoulders. 
Henceforth  these  models  formed  the  standard  by  which  the  plastic  value 
of  all  seated  figures  was  judged.  There  was  soon  no  end  to  the  painful 
efforts  made  to  arouse  interest  by  twisting  a  shoulder,  raising  a  foot,  and 


The  JMediei  Madonna,  by  Michelangelc 


MICHELANGELO 


191 


turning  a  head,  efforts  which  neces- 
sarily entailed  the  loss  of  any  spiritual 
meaning. 

Michelangelo  made  no  attempt 
to  characterise  the  deceased,  or  to 
portray  their  features.  Their  cos- 
tume is  also  ideal.  No  word  of 
inscription  explains  the  monument. 
This  may  have  l:)een  in  deference  to 
express  orders,  for  the  tomb  of  Julius 
again  bears  no  inscription. 

The  chapel  of  the  Medici  con- 
tains a  seated  figure  of  a  different 
kind,  a  MddoniKt  zcifli  the  Child. 
This  shows  the  mature  style  of 
Michelangelo   in   its   most  perfect 

^     .  Crouching  iioy,  by  Michelaiigclo. 

form,  and  is  all  the  more  valu- 
able, as  a  comparison  of  it  with 

the  analogous  youthful  work,  the  MadotuKt  ()f  Bruges^  elucidates  his 
artistic  development,  and  leaves  no  further  doubt  as  to  his  intentions. 
An  inquiry  into  the  growth  of  the  Madonna  of  the  Medici  out  of  the 
Madonna  of  Bruges  would  be  a  suitable  prelude  to  initiation  into  the 
secret  of  Michelangelo's  development.  It  might  })e  pointed  out  how 
the  simpler  possibilities  are  replaced  by  the  more  complicated.  How, 
for  example,  the  knees  are  no  longer  close  together,  but  one  leg  crosses 
the  other  ;  how  the  arms  are  differentiated,  one  being  advanced,  and  the 
other  drawn  back,  so  that  the  two  shoulders  are  distinct  in  every  dimen- 
sion ;  how  the  bust  is  bent  forward,  and  the  head  turned  to  one  side ; 
how  the  Child  sits  astride  on  His  mother's  knee.  His  figure  confronting 
the  spectator,  but  turns  His  head  back  and  feels  for  her  l)reast.  This 
motive  thoroughly  mastered,  there  would  be  another  consideration  :  why 
is  the  effect  so  full  of  repose,  in  spite  of  the  richness  of  the  action 't 
The  first  (juality,  variety,  is  easily  imitated,  but  the  second,  unity,  is  very 
difficult  to  achieve.  Tht?  group  appears  simple  because  it  is  clear  and  can 
be  comprehended  at  a  glance,  and  its  effect  is  reposeful,  because  its  whole 
significance  is  brought  into  one  compact  form.  The  original  block  of 
marble  seems  to  have  })een  but  slightly  modified. 


192  THE    ART   OP   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


Michelangelo  ac^hieved  perhaps 
the  highest  success  of  this  kind  in 
the  figure  of  the  boy  at  St.  Peters- 
burg, who  is  crouching  down  and 
tending  his  feet.^  The  work  looks 
like  the  solution  of  a  definite  pro- 
blem. We  might  imagine  that  his 
object  had  been  to  produce  the 
most  varied  figure  possible  with  the 
smallest  amount  of  disturbance  and 
disruption  of  the  block.  It  is  thus 
that  Michelangelo  would  have  re- 
presented the  boy  extracting  the 
thorn.  It  is  an  absolute  cube,  but 
full  of  stinmlating  motives  for  plastic 
representation. 

The  Christ  of  the  Minerva  in 
Rome  shows  hoAv  a  standing  figure 
was  treated  at  this  epoch.  This 
statue,  which  was  spoilt  in  its  final 
execution,  must  be  termed  a  great 
work  in  conception  and  highlv  im- 
portant in  its  consequences.  Michel- 
angelo had  obviously  renounced 
draped  figures ;  he  therefore  repre- 
sents the  Christ  nude,  as  the  Risen 
Christ,  by  Michelangelo.  Lord,  giving  Him  in  place  of  the 

banner  of  victory,  the  cross  (and 
with  it  the  reed  and  sponge).  This  was  required  to  ensure  a  massive 
effect.  The  cross  stands  on  the  ground,  and  Christ  grasps  it  with  both 
hands.  The  immediate  result  is  the  important  motive  of  the  outstretched 
arm,  which  crosses  the  breast.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  idea 
was  new,  and  that  in  the  Bacchus',  for  example,  such  a  possibility  would 
never  have  been  entertained.  The  sweep  of  the  arm  is  intensified  by 
the  sharp  turn  of  the  head  in  the  opposite  direction.    A  further  variation 

^  Springer,  erroneously,  refers  him  to  the  tomb  of  Julius  and  supposes  him  to  represent 
a  conquered  foe.    Baphael  unci  Michelangelo,  ll.  530. 


MICHELANGELO 


19» 


is  brought  about  in  the 
hips,  by  drawing  back  the 
left  leg,  while  the  breast 
is  turned  towards  the 
right.  The  feet  are 
planted  one  behind  the 
other.  The  figure  there- 
fore shows  a  surprising 
depth.  This  development 
is,  however,  only  effective 
when  seen,  or  photo- 
graphed, in  its  normal 
aspect.  The  normal  as- 
pect is  that  in  which  all 
the  contrasts  are  simul- 
taneously effective.! 

Michelangelo  entered 
a  domain  presenting  still 
richer  possibilities  when 
he  combined  standing  and 
kneeling  figures,  as  in  the 

so-called    VictoriJ    in    the  An  AUegory,  hy  Bronzino. 

Bargello.    This  is  not  a 

pleasing  creation,  according  to  our  taste,  but  it  had  a  peculiar  charm  for 
his  disciples,  as  the  countless  imitations  of  the  motive  prove.  We  may 
pass  it  over  and  consider  the  last  plastic  ideas  of  the  master,  the  different 
designs  for  a  Pieta,  the  richest  of  which,  a  composition  of  four  figures 
(now  in  the  Cathedral  at  Florence)  was  destined  for  his  own  tomb.^  The 
feature  common  to  them  all  is  that  the  bodv  of  the  dead  Christ  no  longer 
lies  diagonally  across  His  mother's  lap,  but  is  partly  upright,  and  huddled 
together  on  her  knees.  It  was  hardly  possible  to  get  a  beautiful  outline 
with  such  a  figure,  nor  did  Michelangelo  attempt  it.  The  last  thought  he 
wished  to  express  with  his  chisel  was  the  shapeless  collapse  of  a  heavy 

^  Unfortunately  no  such  photograph  could  be  obtained  for  reproduction  in  this  volume. 
The  point  from  which  it  should  be  taken  is  more  to  the  left. 

"  Besides  the  familiar  group  in  the  Palazzo  Rondanini  at  Rome  a  similar  sketch  in  the 
Castle  of  Palestrina  might  also  be  examined. 

O 


194  THE   ART   OP   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


mass.  Painting  appropriated  this  scheme,  and  when  we  see  Bronzino's 
version  of  such  a  group,  with  its  harsh,  zigzag  lines,  and  offensive 
crowding  of  the  figures,  it  seems  hardly  credible  that  this  was  produced 
by  the  generation  which  succeeded  to  the  age  of  Raphael  and  Fra 
Bartolommeo. 

2.  The  Last  Judgment  and  the  Pauline  Chapel 

Michelangelo  certainly  did  not  enter  upon  the  great  pictorial  tasks  of 
his  extreme  old  age  with  the  repugnance  with  which  he  had  painted  the 
Sistine  ceiling.    He  felt  the  need  of  luxuriating  in  masses.    In  the  Last 
Judgment  (1534-41)  he  enjoyed   the  "  Promethean  happiness of  being 
able  to  realise  all  the  possibilities  of  movement,  position,  foreshortening 
and  grouping  of  the  nude  human  form.    He  wished  to  make  these  masses 
stupendous  and  to  overwhelm  the  spectator.     He  attained  his  purpose. 
The  picture  seems  too  large  for  the  chapel :  the  one  enormous  painting 
extends  frameless  along  the  wall,  and  annihilates  all  that  was  left  of  the 
earlier  frescoes.    Michelangelo  showed  no  respect  for  his  own  painting  on 
the  ceiling.    It  is  impossible  to  look  at  the  two  works  together,  without 
feeling  the  harsh  discord.    The  arrangement  is  in  itself  magnificent.  The 
figure  of  Christ,  raised  high  in  the  picture,  is  intensely  effective.    About  to 
spring  up.  He  seems  to  grow  as  the  eye  dwells  on  Him.    Around  Him  is  an 
awe-inspiring  throng  of  martyrs,  calling  for  vengeance.    They  approach  in 
ever  denser  throngs  :  their  forms  become  more  and  more  colossal — the 
scale  is  wilfully  altered — and  the  gigantic  figures  combine  into  unprece- 
dentedly  powerful  masses.    No  individual  objects  are  now  emphasised, 
nothing  is  considered  but  the  grouping  of  masses.    The  figure  of  Mary 
is  attached  to  that  of  Christ  just  as  in  architecture  a  single  pillar  is 
strengthened  by  a  companion  half  or  quarter  pillar. 

The  secondary  lines  are  two  diagonals,  which  meet  in  the  Christ. 
The  movement  of  His  hand  passes  down  through  the  whole  picture  like  a 
lightning-flash,  not  dynamically,  but  as  an  optical  line,  and  this  line  is 
repeated  on  the  other  side.  It  would  not  have  been  possible  to  give  any 
emphasis  to  the  chief  figure  without  this  symmetrical  arrangement. 

In  the  Pauline  Chapel  on  the  other  hand,  where  we  find  the  historical 
pictures  of  Michelangelo's  last  years  {Conve7\sion  of  St.  Paul  and  Cruci- 
fixion of  St.  Pete?'),  all  synnnetry  is  thrown  to  the  av  inds,  and  there  is  once 


MICHELANGELO 


195 


more  a  growing  tendency  to  sacrifice  form.  The  pictures  come  into 
immediate  contact  with  the  real  pillars,  and  half-length  figures  rise  from 
the  lower  border.  This  is  indeed  far  from  the  spirit  of  classic  art.  There 
is,  however,  no  senile  feebleness.  ^Michelangelo  excels  himself  in  the  vigour 
of  his  rendering.  The  Conversion  of  St.  Paul  could  not  be  rendered  more 
powerfully  than  here.  Christ  appears  high  up  in  the  corner  of  the  picture. 
A  beam  of  His  radiance  strikes  Paul,  and  he,  with  eyes  staring  out  of  the 
picture,  listens  for  the  voice  which  comes  from  the  heavens  behind  him. 
Thus  the  story  of  the  Conversion  is  told  once  for  all,  in  a  way  that  com- 
pletely surpasses  the  rendering  of  the  theme  in  llaphaers  tapestries.  In 
this  latter,  apart  from  the  individual  movement,  the  main  point  of  the 
incident  is  not  grasped.  The  prostrate  Paul  has  the  wrathful  God  too 
fully  before  his  eyes.  Michelangelo,  with  true  genius,  places  the  Christ 
above  Paul,  on  his  neck,  as  it  Avere,  so  that  the  latter  cannot  see  Him.  As 
Paul  raises  his  head  and  listens,  we  fancy  we  see  before  us  the  blinded  man 
in  whose  ears  the  heavenly  voice  rings.  On  the  tapestry,  the  horse  is 
represented  galloping  away  to  the  side  ;  Michelangelo  placed  it  near  Paul, 
in  a  diametrically  opposite  direction,  facing  into  the  fresco.  The  whole 
group  is  unsynnnetrically  pushed  towards  the  left  edge  of  the  picture,  and 
the  one  great  line,  which  descends  steeply  from  the  Christ,  is  then  con- 
tinued at  a  less  acute  inclination  towards  the  other  side.  This  is  his  last 
style.  Harsh  lines  seam  the  picture.  Heavy  conglomerations  of  mass 
alternate  with  yawning  gaps.  The  companion  picture,  the  Crucifixion  of 
St.  Peter,  is  made  up  of  equally  glaring  discords. 


S.    The  Decadence 

No  one  would  wish  to  make  ]VIichelangelo  personally  responsible  for 
the  destiny  of  central  Italian  art.  He  was  what  he  was  bound  to  be,  and 
he  remained  sublime  even  amid  the  distortions  of  his  later  style.  But  his 
influence  was  disastrous.  All  beauty  was  measured  by  the  standard  of  his 
works,  and  an  art  which  had  been  created  under  exclusively  individual 
conditions  became  universal. 

It  is  necessary  to  examine  somewhat  more  closely  this  phenomenon  of 
"  Mannerism.'^ 

All  artists  began  to  aim  at  bewildering  effects  of  mass.  RaphaeFs 
methods  of  construction  were  forgotten.    Spaciousness  and  beauty  of  form 


196  THE    ART   OP   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


were  ignored.  Men's  ideas  of  the  capacities  of  surface  had  become  dulled. 
Painters  vied  with  each  other  in  the  hideous  crowding  of  their  canvases, 
and  in  a  disregard  of  form  which  intentionally  aimed  at  an  opposition 
between  the  space  and  its  contents.  It  was  not  necessary  that  there 
should  be  numerous  figures.  Even  a  single  head  was  given  a  size  dis- 
proportionate to  its  frame,  and  in  isolated  sculptures,  colossal  figures 
were  placed  on  minute  pedestals  (Ammannati's  Neptioic  in  the  Piazza 
della  Signoria,  Florence). 

The  greatness  of  Michelangelo  was  referred  to  the  ^^•ealth  of  move- 
ment in  his  pictures.  Michelangelesque  work  composition  became  a  synonym 
for  the  bringing  into  action  of  every  muscle,  and  thus  we  enter  that  world 
of  complicated  turns  and  bends,  in  which  the  uselessness  of  the  action 
cries  aloud  to  heaven,  and  in  which  simple  gestures  and  natural  move- 
ments were  unknown.  If  we  think  of  the  reclining  nude  female  figures  of 
Titian,  how  happy  may  he  be  accounted  when  compared  with  a  Vasari, 
who  was  compelled  to  introduce  the  most  artificial  movements,  in  order  to 
make  a  Venus  attractive  to  the  eyes  of  his  public.  (As  an  example  of  this, 
the  Venus  in  the  Colonna  Gallery  may  be  compared  with  the  motive  of  the 
Heliodoriis.)  The  worst  aspect  of  the  question  is  that  any  sympathetic 
regret  would  have  been  vigorously  deprecated  by  the  later  artist. 

Art  became  absolutely  formal  and  no  longer  regarded  nature.  It 
constructed  schemes  of  movement  after  receipts  of  its  own,  and  the 
human  body  became  a  mere  mechanism  of  joints  and  muscles.  If  we 
stand  before  Bronzino's  Christ  in  Lhnho  we  fancy  we  are  looking  at  an 
anatomical  nuiseum.  There  is  nothing  but  anatomical  pedantry,  not  a 
trace  of  unsophisticated  vision.  The  sense  of  the  material,  the  feeling 
for  the  delicacy  of  the  human  skin,  and  the  charm  of  the  surface  of  things 
seemed  to  be  extinct.  Plastic  art  reigned  supreme,  and  painters  became 
pictorial  sculptors.  In  their  infatuation  they  threw  away  all  their  wealth 
and  found  themselves  paupers.  The  charming  subjects  of  earlier  times, 
such  as  the  Adoration  of  the  Shepherds^  or  of  The  Three  Kings^  were  now 
merely  pretexts  for  more  or  less  perfunctory  combinations  of  curves,  a 
multiplicity  of  nude  forms.    (Cf.  Tibaldi's  Adoration  of  the  Shepherds.) 

It  may  be  asked,  what  had  become  of  the  splendid  scenes  of  the 
Renaissance  ?  Why  should  a  picture  like  Titian's  Presentation  in  the  Temple 
of  1540  have  become  inconceivable  in  Central  Italy  ?  Men  had  lost  all 
joy  in  themselves.    They  looked  for  some  universal  principle,  which  lay 


MICHELANGELO 


197 


Venus  and  Amor  (7^  Giorno),  Ijy  Vasari. 


beyond  this  present  world,  and  svsteniatising  formed  a  profitable  alliance 
with  learned  antiquarianism.  The  difference  between  the  local  schools  dis- 
appeared. There  was  no  longer  a  popular  art.  Under  these  circumstances 
art  was  beyond  all  aid,  it  was  dying  at  the  roots,  and  the  baneful 
ambition  to  produce  nothing  but  monumental  works  only  hastened  the 
calamity. 

It  could  not  revive  by  its  own  efforts,  its  salvation  had  to  come 
from  without.  It  was  in  the  Germanic  North  of  Italy  that  the  fountain  of 
a  new  naturalism  began  to  flow.  Caravaggio  caused  a  memorable 
impression  at  a  time  when  men  had  gazed  until  they  were  stupid  at  the 
spiritless  productions  of  the  Mannerists.  Once  more  there  was  originality 
of  idea  and  sentiment,  based  on  the  real  experience  of  the  artist.  The 
Entombment  in  the  Vatican  Gallery  may  appeal  to  few  of  the  modern 
public  by  its  main  features,  but  the  reasons  must  have  been  good  which 
induced  an  artist  who  felt  such  gigantic  powers  in  himself  as  the  young 


198  THE    ART   OP    THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


Rubens,  to  copy  it  on  a  large  scale.  If  we  simply  look  at  a  single  figure 
like  that  of  the  weeping  girl,  we  shall  find  in  it  a  shoulder,  painted  with 
such  colour  and  such  light,  that  all  the  false  pretensions  of  Mannerism 
melt  awav  like  an  evil  dream  in  the  beams  of  this  sunshine.  Once  more 
the  world  becomes  rich  and  joyous.  The  Naturalism  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  and  not  the  Bolognese  Academy  was  the  true  heir  of  the 
Renaissance.  Why  it  was  doomed  to  succumb  in  the  conflict  with  the 
ideal "  art  of  the  Eclectics  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  questions  which 
can  be  propounded  in  the  history  of  art. 


The  Adoration  of  the  Sliepherds,  by  P.  Tihaldi. 


PART  II 


I 


THE   NEW  EEELING 

In  the  Campo  Santo  of  Pisa,  Benozzo  Gozzoli  depicts  the  DninK'ouics.'^  of 
Noah,  among  other  incidents  of  Old  Testament  history.  The  story  was 
told  with  the  breadth  and  detail  characteristic  of  the  Quattrocentist 
narrator,  who  shows  his  pleasure  in  representing  the  course  of  the 
patriarch's  debauch  as  circumstantially  as  possible.  He  begins  at  the  very 
beginning  :  it  is  a  fine  afternoon  in  autumn,  and  the  old  man  takes 
his  two  grandchildren  Avith  him  to  see  the  vintage.  We  are  shown  the 
men  and  women  picking  the  grapes,  filling  the  baskets  with  them,  and 
treading  them  in  the  vats.  The  scene  is  enlivened  by  happy  creatures 
everywhere ;  birds  perch  near  the  tiny  pools,  and  one  of  the  children 
busies  himself  with  a  dog.  The  grandfather  stands  and  enjoys  the 
cheerful  scene.  Meantime  the  new  wine  has  been  pressed  and  is  handed 
to  the  master  for  approval.  His  own  wife  brings  him  the  cup  and  all 
wait  expectant  while  he  tastes  the  liquor  critically.  The  verdict  was 
favourable,  for  the  patriarch  now  disappears  into  a  retired  arbour,  where 
a  large  cask  of  "  vino  nuovo  has  been  placed.  Then  the  disaster  occurs. 
The  old  man  lies  in  drunken  stupor  before  the  door  of  his  fine  brightly- 
painted  house,  indecently  exposed.  The  children  see  the  strange  trans- 
formation with  deep  astonishment,  while  the  wife  takes  care  to  send  the 
maidservants  at  once  about  their  business.  They  hide  their  faces  with 
their  hands,  but  reluctantly,  and  one  of  them  tries  to  catch  a  glimpse 
of  the  spectacle  through  her  outspread  fingers. 

After  1500  we  find  no  more  of  these  narratives.  The  scene  is 
crisply  worked  out  in  a  few  figures,  without  accessories.  There  are  no 
descriptions  ;  only  the  dramatic  kernel  of  the  story  is  presented.  The 


202  THE    ART   OF   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


subject  is  not  spun  out, 
it  is  treated  seriously. 
The  artist  does  not  wish 
to  amuse  the  spectator, 
but  to  stir  his  emotions. 
Human  passion  becomes 
the  main  preoccupation, 
and,  compared  with  the 
interest  taken  in  man,  all 
that  the  world  contains 
is  of  small  account. 

A  spectator  in  a  gal- 
lery where  the  Cinque- 
centists  hang  side  by  side, 
is  struck  first  by  the  nar- 
row range  of  material. 
Cinquecentist  art  depicts 
nothing  but  human  forms, 
mighty  forms  that  fill 
iia"i7ti«ui  of  Christ,  by  Verrocchio.  the  wholc  picturc,  and 

secondary    incidents  are 

rigorously  excluded.  What  is  true  of  the  easel-pictures  holds  good  of  the 
frescoes.  In  both  we  behold  a  new  race  of  men,  and  art  aims  at  effects 
which  are  no  longer  compatible  with  contemplative  joy  in  the  rich  variety 
of  inanimate  things. 

1 

The  Cinquecento  sets  out  with  a  totally  new  conception  of  human 
greatness  and  dignity.  All  movement  becomes  more  emphatic,  and 
emotion  draws  a  deeper  and  more  passionate  breath.  A  general  exaltation 
of  human  nature  is  noticeable.  Men  developed  a  feeling  for  the  important, 
the  solenin,  and  the  grandiose,  in  comparison  with  which  the  fifteenth 
century  must  liave  appeared  awkward  and  timid  in  its  attitude.  Thus 
every  expression  was  translated  into  a  new  language.  The  curt  bright 
tones  became  deep  and  sonorous,  and  the  world  once  more  heard  the 
splendid  periods  of  an  emotional  style.  When  the  Baptism  of  Chiist  is 
depicted — let  us  say,  for  example,  by  \  errccchic — the  ceremony  is  performed 


•203 


with  a  pressing  haste,  and  a  con- 
scientious care,  Mhich  may  have 
been  honestly  felt,  but  appeared 
vulijar  to  the  new  jj-eneration.  Let 
us  compare  A.  Sansovino's  group  in 
the  Baptistery  Avith  Verrocchio's 
Baptism.  The  former  gives  a  per- 
fectly novel  rendering  of  the  theme. 
The  Baptist  is  not  advancing,  he 
stands  calmly  in  his  place.  His 
breast  is  turned  towards  the  spec- 
tator, not  towards  Christ.  The  head 
alone,  boldly  facing  sideways,  follows 
the  direction  of  the  hand,  which 
holds  the  bo\\'l  of  ^ater  at  arm\s 
length  over  the  Redeemer's  head. 
There  is  no  anxious  following  after 
Jesus,  no  straining  forward  of  the 
body.  The  Baptist,  calm  and  re- 
ticent, performs  the  ceremony,  a  syni-  Baptism  of  cinist,  by  a.  tsansovino. 
bolic  action,  which  does  not  depend 

for  its  efficacy  on  any  precise  method  of  execution.  \  errocchio's  John 
is  bending  over  like  an  apothecary  pouring  a  draught  into  a  bottle,  and 
full  of  anxiety  lest  a  drop  should  be  wasted.  His  eye  follows  the  water : 
in  Sansovino's  group  it  rests  on  the  face  of  Christ.^ 

Among  the  pencil-drawings  in  the  Uffizi  there  is  a  corresponding-^ 
sketch  for  a  Baptism  in  the  Cinquecento  style  by  Fra  Bartolommeo. 

The  figure  of  the  Christ  is  likewise  changed.  He  is  represented  as  a 
ruler,  not  as  a  poor  teacher.  Verrocchio  depicts  him  standing  unsteadily  in 
the  river,  the  water  swirling  round  his  shrunken  legs.  A  later  age  gradually 
dispensed  with  the  standing  in  the  water,  unwilling  to  sacrifice  the  clear 
representation  of  the  figures  to  connnonplace  realism,  but  the  pose  itself 
became  easy  and  dignified.  Sansovino's  attitude  is  graceful  and  buoyant ; 
the  leg  on  which  no  weight  is  thrown,  is  thrust  out  to  the  side.  There 

1  Sansovino's  Baptist  holds  the  bowl  almost  horizontally.  Formerly  the  inverted 
vessel  was  represented  with  archaic  exactness,  and  Bellini  makes  the  contents  drain  away 
to  the  last  drop.    (Picture  at  Vicenza.) 


204  THE   ART   OP   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


is  a  beautiful  continuous  line  in  place  of  the  angular  jagged  movement. 
The  shoulders  are  squared,  the  head  only  being  slightly  sunk.  The  arms 
are  crossed  over  the  breast,  the  natural  development  of  the  conventional 
motive  of  the  hands  clasped  in  prayer.^ 

This  is  the  grand  gesture  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Leonardo  had 
already  used  it  with  all  the  reticence  and  refinemeht  characteristic  of  him. 
Fra  Bartolommeo  vibrates  with  the  new  pathos,  and  carries  his  public  away 
as  with  the  blast  of  a  hurricane.  The  prayer  of  his  Mater  Miser icor dice ^ 
and  the  benediction  of  his  Salvator  are  creations  of  the  highest  class.  The 
way  in  which  entreaty  breathes  from  every  line  of  the  Virgin,  the  im- 
pressive dignity  with  which  Christ  gives  the  blessing,  make  all  earlier 
representations  appear  as  child's  play.  Michelangelo  was  from  the  first 
no  emotionalist.  He  makes  no  long  speeches,  and  his  pathos  is  subdued 
as  the  murmur  of  a  mighty  subterranean  spring,  but  in  force  of  gesture 
he  was  incomparable.  It  is  enough  to  instance  the  figure  of  the  Creator 
on  the  Sistine  ceiling.  Raphael,  during  the  years  of  his  manhood  at  Rome, 
had  drunk  deeply  of  the  new  ideas.  What  intense  eniotion  lives  in  the 
sketch  for  the  tapestry  of  the  Coronation  of  the  Virgin,  with  what  vigour 
do  the  gestures  express  the  action  of  donor  and  recipient  !  A  strong  per- 
sonality is  required  to  keep  these  motives  of  vigorous  expression  well  under 
control.  An  instructive  example  of  the  way  in  which  they  sometimes  run 
away  with  the  artist  is  given  by  the  composition  of  the  so-called  Five 
Saints-  at  Parma.'  It  is  a  work  of  the  school  of  Raphael,  which  might 
be  compared  with  the  still  timidly-drawn  group  of  Christ  in  the  Disputa 
of  the  youthful  ^Master. 

We  have  the  literary  parallel  to  this  excess  of  pathos  in  Sannazaro's 
famous  poem  of  the  Birth  of  Christ  {De  partii  Virffini.s).'^  The  poet  had 
determined  to  avoid  as  far  as  possible  the  simple  style  of  Biblical  narrative, 
and  to  adorn  the  story  with  all  the  pomp  and  pathos  which  he  could 
contrive.  Mary  is  from  the  first  the  goddess,  the  Queen.  The  humble 
Fiat  inihi  .secundum  verhum  tuum   ("  Be  it  unto  me  according  to  Thy 

^  A  similar  criticism  might  be  applied  to  the  bronze  group  of  Christ  and  St.  Tlioman  by 
Verrocchioin  Or  San  Michele,  Christ,  who  is  exposing  the  wounds  with  His  own  hands  and 
following  the  action  with  His  eyes,  is  too  trivial  in  motive.  A  later  artist  would  have 
conceived  the  scene  differently. 

-  Engraving  by  Marc'  Antonio,  B.  no.  113. 

2  The  work  appeared  in  1526.  The  author  is  supposed  to  have  elaborated  it  for  twenty 
years. 


THE   NEW  PEELING 


205 


word is  changed  into  a 
long  highflown  speech, 
which  does  not  corre- 
spond in  the  least  Avith 
the  Biblical  situation  :  she 
looks  up  to  heaven. 

"  .  .  ,  .  oculos  ad  sidera  tollens 
adnuit  et  tales  emisit  pectore 
voces  : 

Jam,  jam  vince  fides,  vince 
obsequiosa  voluntas  : 

En  adsum  :  aceipio  venerans 
tua  jussa  tuumque 

dulce  sacrum  pater  omnipo- 
tens,"  ^  etc. 

Brightness  fills  the 
room.  She  conceives. 
Thunder  is  heard  in  a 
clear  skv 

"  ut  omnes 
audirent  late   populi,  quos 

maximus  ambit 
Oceanus  Thetysque  et  rauci- 

sona  Ampliitrite."  - 


Together  with  a  desire 
for  large  and  prominent 
forms  we  find  a  tendency 

to  weaken  the  expression  of  emotion,  which  characterises  the  physiognomy 
of  the  century  in  a  still  higher  degree.  This  is  the  quality  referred  to  by 
those  who  speak  of  the  "  classic  repose  of  these  figures.  Examples  are  not 
far  to  seek.  At  a  moment  of  the  most  intense  emotion,  when  Mary  sees 
her  Son  dead  before  her,  she  does  not  scream,  nor  even  weep.  Calm  and 
tearless,  her  features  undistorted  bv  grief,  she  stretches  out  her  arms  and 

^  "  raising  her  eyes  to  the  stars,  she  bowed  her  head  and  uttered  these  words  from  her 
heart :  Prevail,  0  faith,  prevail,  willing  obedience  !  Behold  I  am  here ;  I  receive  and 
worship  thy  commands.  Omnipotent  Father,"  &c. 

-  "that  all  the  lands  miglit  hear,  which  mightiest  Ocean  and  Thetys  and  hoarse- 
sounding  Amphitrite  encircle." 


Pietii. 

From  Marc  Antonio's  engraving  after  Raphael. 


206  THE   ART   OP   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


^azes  upwards.  Raphael  has  drawn  her  thus  (engraving  bv  ^larc.  Antonio). 
Fra  Bartolonnneo  makes  her  imprint  a  quiet  passionless  kiss  on  the  fore- 
head of  a  dead  Christ  who  shows  no  trace  of  His  recent  sufferings.  Michel- 

o 

angelo,  still  greater  and  more  restrained  than  the  others,  had  already  repre- 
,sented  the  scene  on  these  lines  in  the  Pieta  of  his  first  visit  to  Rome. 

When,  in  the  Visitation^  Mary  and  Elizabeth,  great  with  child,  embrace 
each  other,  it  is  the  meeting  of  two  tragedy  queens,  a  slow,  solemn,  silent 
greeting  (Sebastiano  del  Pionibo,  Louvre).  We  have  done  with  the  cheerful 
hasty  visit,  when  a  kindly  young  woman  with  a  graceful  gesture  tells  the 
old  cousin  not  to  stand  so  much  on  ceremony. 

In  the  scene  of  the  Annunciation  Mary  is  no  longer  the  girl  gazing  in 
joyful  alarm  at  the  unexpected  visitor,  as  Filippo,  Baldovinetti  or  Lorenzo 
di  Credi  painted  her,  nor  the  modest  maiden,  casting  her  eyes  down  like  a 
•candidate  for  confirmation  but,  absolutely  composed,  M  ith  a  royal  bearing, 
she  receives  the  angel  like  a  fashionable  lady  who  is  not  to  be  taken  by 
surprise.^ 

Even  the  emotions  of  maternal  love  and  tenderness  are  subdued.  The 
Madonnas  of  Raphael's  Roman  period  are  very  different  in  expression  to 
his  first  conceptions.  It  would  no  longer  seem  decorous  for  the  Madonna, 
now  become  so  stately,  to  press  the  child  to  her  cheek,  as  the  Madonna 
della  Casa  Tempi  does.  A  distance  is  put  between  them.  Even  the 
Madonna  della  Sedia  is  the  proud  mother,  not  the  loving  mother  who 
forgets  the  world  around  her,  and  if  in  the  Madonna  of  Francis  I.  the 
Child  hastens  to  His  mother,  it  should  be  noticed  how  little  the  latter 
advances  towards  Him. 

S 

Italy  in  the  sixteenth  century  stereotyped  the  idea  of  distinction  which 
still  prevails  in  the  west.  A  number  of  gestures  and  movements  dis- 
appeared from  pictures ;  they  were  felt  to  be  too  commonplace.  We 
have  a  distinct  sense  of   passing  into  another  rank  of  society.  Art 

^  Leonardo  blames  a  contemporary  painter,  who  represents  Mary  in  such  agitation  at 
the  message  that  she  seems  ready  to  leap  out  of  the  window.  Albertinelli  and  Andrea  del 
Sarto  first  struck  the  true  Cinquecento  note.  Piero  dei  Franceschi  anticipated  this 
representation  in  his  Annunciation  at  Arezzo.  The  subject  has  found  its  most  grandiose 
realisation  in  the  picture  by  Marcello  Venusti  (Lateran),  a  conception  which  betrays  the 
spirit  of  Michelangelo,  (There  is  a  replica  in  the  rarely  accessible  Church  of  S.  Caterina 
ai  Funari  in  Rome.) 


THE   NEW  PEELING 


is  no  longer  middle-class, 
but  aristocratic.  All  the 
distinctive  criteria  of 
manner  and  feeling  pre- 
vailing in  the  higher 
classes  were  adopted,  and 
the  whole  celestial  world 
of  the  Christian,  his  saints 
and  heroes,  had  to  take 
on  an  aristocratic  stamp. 
The  gulf  between  the 
popular  and  the  refined 
was  then  fixed.  AVhen 
in  Ghirlandajo's  Last 
Supper  of  1480  Peter 
points  with  his  thumb 
at  Christ,  we  have  a 
popular  gesture,  which 
High  Art  at  once  rejected 
as  inadmissible.  Leonardo 
was  fastidious  enough, 
yet  even  he  now  and 
again  commits  an  offence 
against  pure  Cinque- 
cent  ist  taste.  I  place  in  this  category  the  gesture  of  the  Apostle  at 
the  Last  Supper  (to  the  right),  who  has  placed  one  hand  open  on  the 
table,  and  strikes  it  with  the  back  of  the  other,  a  gesture  still  ordinary 
and  intelligible,  but  one  which  the  "high  style''  will  admit  no  more  than 
the  other.  It  would  take  us  too  far,  if  we  were  to  attempt  to  describe 
fully  this  process  of  "  purification.''  One  or  two  instances  will  be  typical 
of  many. 

At  the  banquet  of  Herod,  when  the  head  of  John  is  placed  on  the 
table,  Ghirlandajo  makes  the  King  bow  his  head  and  clench  his  hands  ;  we 
hear  him  lamenting.  The  later  age  thought  this  unkingly.  Andrea  del 
Sarto  shows  the  arm  outstretched  and  languidly  deprecatory,  a  silent 
repudiation. 

When  Salome  dances,  Filippo  or  Ghirlandajo  makes  her  spring  round 


The  Visitation,  by  Sebastiano  del  riombo. 


208  THE    ART   OP   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


the  room  with  the  wild  impetuosity  of  a  schoolgirl.  The  decorum  of  the 
sixteenth  century  demands  a  more  reticent  bearing ;  a  princess  should 
dance  only  stately  measures,  and  Andrea  has  represented  her  thus  engaged. 

General  ideas  are  formed  as  to  decorous  sitting  and  walking. 
Zacharias,  the  father  of  John,  was  a  plain  man,  but  the  laying  of  his 
leg  over  his  knee,  when  he  wrote  down  the  name  of  the  new-born  boy,  as 
pictured  by  Ghirlandajo,  was  an  attitude  unworthy  of  the  hero  of  a 
Cinquecentist  story. 

The  true  aristocrat  is  careless  in  his  bearing  and  movements.  He  does 
not  attitudinise,  nor  stiffen  his  back  in  order  to  make  himself  presentable  ; 
lie  is  content  to  appear  as  he  is,  for  he  is  always  fit  for  any  company.  The 
heroes  whom  Castagno  painted  are  for  the  most  part  common  swaggerers  ; 
no  gentleman  would  look  like  them.  Even  the  type  of  the  Colleoni  in 
Venice  must  have  been  felt  by  the  sixteenth  century  to  be  that  of  a 
braggadocio.  The  way  in  which  the  women  march  bolt-upright  when,  in 
Ghirlandajo's  picture,  they  visit  the  lying-in  room,  seemed  later  to  have  a 
middle-class  touch  about  it ;  the  high-born  dame's  deportment  should  be 
marked  by  an  easy  negligence. 

If  we  want  Italian  testimony  to  these  new  conceptions,  it  is  to  be  found 
in  Count  Castiglione's  Cortig-ia)io,  the  treatise  on  the  Perfect  Cavalier 
(1516).  It  gives  the  idea  prevalent  at  Urbino,  and  Urbino  was  then  the 
place  where  all  who  laid  claim  to  rank  and  breeding  resorted,  the 
recognised  school  of  polite  manners.  The  expression  for  high-bred,  elegant 
nonchalance  was  "  la  sprezzata  disinvoltura."  The  duchess,  who  dominated 
the  court,  was  famed  for  the  unpretentious  distinction  of  her  manners  :  the 
"  modestia and  "  grandezza of  her  words  and  gestures  made  her  regal. 
We  glean  many  further  details  as  to  what  was  compatible  with  the  dignity 
of  a  nobleman.  A  sober  gravity  of  demeanour  is  repeatedly  put  forward 
as  his  essential  characteristic,  that  "  gravita  riposata "  which  marks  the 
Spaniard.  We  are  told  (and  this  was  clearly  a  new  departure)  that  it  is 
indecorous  for  a  man  of  breeding  to  take  part  in  rapid  dances  ("  non  entri  in 
quella  prestezza  de'  piedi  e  duplicati  ribattimenti '').  The  ladies  were 
similarly  advised  to  avoid  all  hasty  movements  ("  non  vorrei  vederle  usar 
movimenti  troppo  gagliardi  e  sforzati '').  Everything  was  to  be  marked 
by  "  la  molle  delicatura.'' 

The  discussion  of  good  manners  naturally  extends  to  language,  and  if 
Castiglione  still  allows  considerable  freedom,  the  popular  book  on  decorous 


THE    NEW  FEELING 


209 


behaviour  by  Delia  Casa  (il  Galateo)  contains  far  stricter  rules.  F.ven  the 
old  poets  are  taken  to  task,  and  the  critic  of  the  sixteenth  century  is 
surprised  that  Dante  should  put  the  locutions  of  the  pothouse  into  the 
mouth  of  his  Beatrice. 

In  the  sixteenth  century  men  strove  perpetually  for  dignity  of 
demeanour,  and  became  serious  in  the  process.  The  Quattrocento  must 
have  seemed  a  petulant  and  thoughtless  child  to  the  new  generation.  It 
was  thought,  for  example,  an  incomprehensible  piece  of  ndivete  to  allow 
two  laughing  boys  to  be  placed  on  a  tomb,  holding  the  coats  of  arms,  as 
on  the  tomb  of  Marsuppini  by  Desiderio  in  S.  Croce.  There  ought  to  have 
been  weeping  "  Putti  "  in  their  places,  or,  better,  large  mourning  figures 
(Virtues),  for  children  can  never  be  really  serious.^ 

4 

Only  important  events  were  considered  worthy  of  notice.  In  the 
stories  of  the  Quattrocentists  there  are  a  number  of  homely  idyllic  touches, 
which  have  little  to  do  with  the  real  theme,  but  delight  the  modern 
spectator  by  their  simplicity.  We  have  given  instances  in  the  history  of 
Noah  by  Gozzoli.  The  painter  was  not  anxious  to  convey  one  definite 
impression,  he  wished  to  gratify  the  public  by  a  wealth  of  incidents. 
When  the  Saints  in  Sic^norelli's  fresco  in  Orvieto  are  receivini^  their 
heavenly  crou  ns,  angels  are  making  music  in  the  skies.  One  of  them  finds 
it  necessary  to  tune  his  instrument,  and  at  the  most  solemn  moment  he 
gravely  sets  about  this  task  in  the  most  conspicuous  place.  He  might  have 
seen  to  this  beforehand  ! 

Botticelli  painted  the  Ejcodus  of'  the  Jews  from  Egypt  in  the  Sistine 
Chapel.  The  exodus  of  a  nation,  a  truly  heroic  scene  !  Yet  what  is  the 
main  motive  ?  A  Avoman  with  two  little  boys  ;  the  youngest  is  led  by  the 
elder  brother,  but  he  is  rebellious ;  he  clings  tearfully  to  his  mother's  arm 
and  is  being  scolded.  It  is  a  charming  incident,  but  who  among  the  new 
generation  would  have  been  bold  enough  to  introduce  the  motive  in  such  a 
connection  ? 

Cosimo  Rosselli  represented^  the  Last  Supper  in  the  same  chapel.  He 
introduces  into  the  foreground  a  still  life  of  great  polished  metal  dishes  ; 

^  The  mourning  "  Putti"  are  found  as  early  as  the  fifteenth  century  in  Rome,  always 
more  solemn  than  Florence.  The  seventeenth  century  recurs  to  the  artless  motive  of 
smiling  children  on  sepulchral  monuments.    These  are,  however,  very  infantine. 

P 


210  THE   ART   OP   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


then  he  paints  a  dog  and  cat  romping  together,  and  another  dog,  begging 
on  his  hind  legs.  The  tone  of  the  sacred  theme  is  of  course  quite  ruined,  yet 
he  offended  nobody,  and  the  painter  was  decorating  the  private  chapel  of 
the  Head  of  Christendom. 

There  were  individual  artists,  like  the  great  Donatello,  who  showed  a 
perfect  sense  of  unity  in  their  conception  of  a  historic  moment.  His  historical 
pictures  are  the  best  narratives  of  the  fifteenth  century.  It  was  extraordin- 
arily difficult  for  others  to  concentrate  themselves,  to  abandon  all  that 
was  merely  entertaining,  and  to  represent  the  subject  seriously.  Leonardo's 
axiom  was  that  a  picture  telling  a  story,  ought  to  make  the  same  emotional 
impression  on  the  spectator  as  if  he  had  been  present  at  the  occurrence.^ 
But  how  was  this  possible  so  long  as  a  crowd  of  persons  was  tolerated  in 
the  pictures  who  w  ere  uninterested  bystanders  or  apathetic  spectators  ? 
In  Giotto's  scenes  everyone  present  took,  either  actively  or  passively,  a 
personal  part  in  the  action,  but  the  Quattrocento  ushered  in  that  silent 
chorus  of  persons  who  were  tolerated,  because  interest  in  the  representation 
of  mere  existence  and  of  characteristic  life  had  become  stronger  than 
interest  in  action  and  the  relation  of  individual  to  individual.  It  was  often 
the  purchaser  of  the  picture  and  his  family  who  wished  to  figure  on  the 
stage,  or  perhaps  some  local  celebrity  whom  the  painter  honoured  in  this 
way,  without  imposing  any  definite  role  on  them.  L.  B.  Alberti,  in  his 
treatise  on  painting,  does  not  hesitate  to  solicit  this  honour  for  himself.^ 

If  we  examine  the  cycle  of  frescoes  on  the  walls  of  the  Sistine  Chapel, 
we  are  struck  by  the  indifference  of  the  artist  to  his  subject.  It  is  strange 
how  little  he  cares  to  emphasise  the  real  factors  in  the  story,  how,  more  or 
less  universally,  in  the  conflict  of  various  interests,  the  essential  threatens 
to  disappear  before  the  unessential.  Did  ever  Lawgiver  like  Moses  have 
before  him  so  inattentive  an  audience  as  that  in  Signorelli's  fresco  ?  It  is 
almost  impossible  for  the  spectator  to  realise  the  situation.  One  might 
have  thought  that  Botticelli  was  of  all  others  the  man  to  depict,  in  the 
Rehellion  of  Korah^  the  passionate  excitement  which  had  spread  among 
great  masses  of  people.  But  even  with  him  how  soon  does  the  fire  of 
movement  die  out  in  the  ranks  of  the  stolid  bystanders  ! 

When  RaphaeFs  tapestries  with  the  stories  of  the  Apostles  appeared, 
they  must  have  produced  a  profound  impression  in  contrast  to  these 
historical  pictures  of  the  Quattrocento.  Raphael  had  treated  his  subject 
^  Trattato  della  Pittura.  -  Minor  Writivgs. 


THE   NEW  FEELING 


211 


with  the  utmost  seriousness,  his  stage  was  cleared  of  all  superfluous  figures, 
and  a  vigour  of  dramatic  animation  was  displayed  which  appealed  directly 
to  the  feelings  of  the  spectator.  When  Paul  is  preaching  at  Athens,  the 
bystanders  are  not  mere  supernumeraries  with  typical  heads,  but  the 
features  of  each  individual  show  what  impression  the  words  make  on  him, 
and  how  far  he  can  follow  the  speaker.  When  some  marvellous  event 
occurs,  as  the  sudden  death  of  Ananias,  all  who  see  it  start  back  with  the 
most  eloquent  gestures  of  surprise  and  horror,  whereas  the  whole  Egyptian 
nation  might  be  drowned  in  the  Red  Sea,  and  a  Quattrocentist  painter 
would  not  show  a  single  Hebrew  excited  at  the  catastrophe. 

It  was  reserved  for  the  sixteenth  century,  not  to  discover  the  great 
world  of  human  emotions  and  passions,  but  to  turn  it  to  artistic  account. 
Its  art  is  characterised  by  keen  interest  in  the  psychological  aspect  of 
events.  The  Temptation  of  Cln'ist  would  have  been  a  theme  entirely 
congenial  to  the  new  era.  Botticelli  could  make  nothing  of  it,  and  filled 
his  picture  with  the  representation  of  a  mere  ceremony.  On  the  other 
hand,  where  the  Cinquecentists  had  to  treat  subjects  lacking  in  dramatic 
elements  they  often  made  the  mistake  of  introducing  passion  and  intense 
emotion  into  scenes  where  they  are  out  of  place,  for  example  the  idyllic 
scenes  of  the  Birth  of  Christ. 

The  intimate  pleasure  of  the  artist  in  his  work  ceased  in  the  sixteenth 
century.  Delight  in  the  breadth  of  nature  and  the  wealth  of  objects  dies 
away.  A  Quattrocentist,  painting  an  Adoration  of  the  Shepherds,  would 
introduce  any  and  every  motive.  There  is  a  picture  of  the  sort  by 
Ghirlandajo  in  the  Academy  of  Florence.  How  carefully  the  animals  are 
painted,  the  ox,  the  ass,  the  sheep,  the  goldfinch ;  then  we  have  flowers, 
pebbles,  a  smiling  landscape.  We  are  introduced  to  the  family  baggage ; 
a  well-worn  saddle  lies  on  the  ground,  and  a  wine  cask  by  it.  The  painter, 
to  suit  the  antiquarian  taste  of  the  day,  has  thrown  in  one  or  two  ornamental 
adjuncts  :  a  sarcophagus,  an  antique  pillar  or  two,  and  in  the  background 
a  brand  new  triumphal  arch,  with  an  inscription  in  golden  letters  on  a 
blue  frieze. 

The  "great  style  knows^iothing  of  these  diversions  offered  to  a  sight- 
loving  public.  We  shall  speak  later  of  the  way  in  which  the  eye  looked 
elsewhere  for  pleasing  effects  ;  it  need  only  be  said  in  this  place  that  the 
interest  of  the  later  historical  picture  was  concentrated  entirely  on  the 
actual  event,  and  that  the  attempt  to  produce  the  main  effect  by  great 

p  2 


212  THE   ART   OP   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


emotional  action  excluded  the  mere  gratification  of  the  ejeby  miscellaneous 
incidents.  This  entailed  a  rigorous  condensation  of  the  diffuse  elements 
hitherto  introduced  in  Lives  of  the  Virgin,  and  kindred  subjects. 

5 

Even  portraits  tended  to  become  somewhat  dramatic  in  the  sixteenth 
century.  From  the  time  of  Donatello  occasional  attempts  had  been  made 
to  do  more  than  merely  describe  the  passive  model,  but  this  was  the 
exception,  and  the  rule  was  that  the  portrait  exactly  represented  the 
person  as  he  sat  to  the  painter.  The  heads  of  the  Quattrocento  are  in- 
valuable in  their  simplicity.  They  were  not  intended  to  produce  any 
special  impression,  but  on  comparison  with  the  classical  portraits  they 
seem  somewhat  indifferent.  The  Cinquecento  demanded  definite  ex- 
pression. We  see  at  once  what  the  person  is  thinking  and  what  he  wishes 
to  sav.  It  was  not  enough  to  show  the  permanent  features  of  a  face ;  some 
moment  of  vivid  actuality  had  to  be  depicted. 

At  the  same  time  the  painter  tried  to  grasp  the  most  significant  aspect 
of  his  model.  There  is  a  higher  conception  of  the  dignity  of  man,  and 
we  receive  the  impression  that  the  race  which  stood  on  this  side  of  the 
threshold  of  the  sixteenth  century  was  one  of  fuller  emotions  and  greater 
powers.  Lomazzo  in  his  treatise  has  laid  down  as  a  rule  for  the  portrait 
painter,  that  setting  aside  the  imperfect  traits,  he  should  work  out  and 
strengthen  the  great  dignified  features.  This  is  a  belated  theoretical  fornui- 
lation  of  what  the  Classics  had  done  of  themselves  :  "  al  pittore  conviene 
che  sempre  accresca  nelle  faccie  grandezza  e  maesta,  coprendo  il  difetto  del 
naturale,  come  si  vede  che  hanno  fatto  gV  antichi  pittori.'"^  ("The 
painter^s  duty  is  to  enhance  the  grandeur  and  dignity  of  the  face,  disguis- 
ing the  natural  defects,  as  was  the  custom  of  the  ancient  painters.'')  It  is 
clear  that  there  was  innninent  danger  that  such  a  tendency  would  destroy 
the  characteristics  of  the  individual  and  distort  his  personalitv  to  bring  it 
into  harmony  with  some  scheme  of  expression  foreign  to  it.  But  it  was  only 
the  "  Epigoni,"  who  succumbed  to  this  danger. 

The  diminished  number  of  commissions  for  portraits  may  have  been 
due  to  this  more  exalted  conception  of  the  individual.    Obviously,  artists 

^  He  refers  to  Titian,  among  others,  who  had  shown  in  his  A  Host  o  "La  facundia 
e  rornaniento "  and  in  his  Bemho  "la  maesta  et  I'accuratezza. "  Lomazzo,  Trattura 
della  Pittnra.    Ed.  of  1585,  p.  433. 


THE    NEW  FEELING 


213 


could  not  be  asked  to  paint  every  commonplace  countenance.  It  was  said 
indeed  of  Michelangelo  that  he  regarded  it  as  a  degradation  of  art  to  copy 
any  earthly  object  in  its  individual  limitations,  unless  it  was  of  the  most 
surpassing  beauty. 

6 

It  was  inevitable  that  this  ideal  of  dignity  should  determine  the  con- 
ception and  representation  of  celestial  beings.  Religious  feeling  might 
express  itself  for  or  against  this  view.  The  higher  social  grade  of  the 
sacred  figures  was  a  consequence  which  followed  from  very  different  premisses. 
Attention  has  already  been  called  to  the  dignified  and  reserved  figure  of 
the  Virgin  in  the  Anmniciat'ioii.  The  shy  maiden  has  become  a  princess, 
and  the  Madonna  with  the  Bambino,  who  in  the  fifteenth  century  might 
have  been  an  honest  middle-class  wife  from  the  next  street,  becomes 
aristocratic,  stately  and  unapproachable. 

She  no  longer  smiles  at  the  spectator  with  laughing  eyes,  nor  is  she  the 
Mary  who  lowers  her  gaze  modestly  and  humbly,  nor  the  young  mother 
intent  upon  her  Babe.  She  regards  the  worshipper  with  dignity  and 
assurance,  like  a  queen  accustomed  to  see  men  kneeling  before  her.  The 
characterisation  is  not  uniform  ;  at  one  time  we  see  a  worldly  superiority, 
as  with  Andrea  del  Sarto,  at  another  a  heroic  elevation  above  the  world, 
as  with  Michelangelo,  but  the  transformation  of  the  type  is  noticeable 
everywhere. 

The  Infant  Christ  again  is  no  more  the  merry  playful  Child,  who 
examines  a  pomegranate  and  offers  His  mother  a  seed  (Filippo  Lippi),  nor 
the  laughing  urchin  raising  His  hand  to  give  a  blessing  which  cannot  be 
taken  seriously.  If  He  is  smiling,  as  in  the  Madomia  del  Arpie^  it  is  at  the 
spectator,  with  a  rather  unpleasant  coquetry,  for  which  Sarto  is  responsible, 
but  usually  He  is  serious,  very  serious.  RaphaeFs  Roman  pictures  prove 
this.  Michelangelo,  however,  was  the  first  who  represented  the  Child  thus 
without  forcing  Him  into  unchildlike  attitudes  (such  as  the  act  of  blessing). 
He  represents  the  Boy  witb  absolutely  natural  gestures,  but  whether 
awake  or  asleep  He  is  a  joyless  Child. ^ 

1  The  highest  period  of  German  Art  shows  an  analogy  to  this  emancipation  of  the 
Infant  Christ  from  the  unchildlike  function  of  blessing.  The  gesture  of  the  Boy  in 
Holbein's  Madonna  at  Darmstadt,  as  He  stretches  out  His  left  arm,  is  no  longer  a 
benediction. 


214  THE   ART   OP   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


Among  the  Quattrocentists,  Botticelli  clearly  preludes  in  this  strain  ; 
he  became  more  and  more  serious  as  he  grew  older,  offering  a  vigorous 
protest  against  the  smiling  superficiality  of  a  Ghirlandajo.  Yet  he  cannot 
be  included  in  the  types  of  the  new  century.  His  Madomia  certainly  has 
a  serious  look,  but  she  is  a  depressed  and  sorrowful  being,  and  her  Child 
is  not  yet  the  kingly  Child.  Am  I  mistaken  in  supposing  the  rarity  of  the 
representation  of  the  Madonna  with  the  Babe  at  her  breast  to  be  connected 
with  this  development.'^  It  is  imaginable  that  the  idea  of  the  suckling 
mother  appeared  deficient  in  dignity  to  the  Cinquecento.  Bugiardini  still 
represents  \heMadonna  del  latte,  but  his  Mary  points  with  her  hand  to 
her  breast,  as  if  she  wished  to  say  to  the  spectator  :  "  This  is  the  breast 
which  fed  the  Lord (picture  in  the  Uffizi).  In  the  picture  of  the  Betrothal 
of  the  Iivfant  Christ  and  St.  Catherine  (Bologna  Gallery),  the  same  artist 
does  not  treat  the  ceremony  as  one  incomprehensible  to  the  Child ;  in  fact 
the  little  Boy  is  fully  conscious  of  the  situation,  and  seems  to  be 
admonishing  the  modest  bride  with  upraised  finger. 

Corresponding  to  the  inner  change  there  was  a  complete  transformation 
in  external  form.  All  the  treasures  of  the  world  had  formerly  been 
collected  round  the  throne  where  Mary  sat,  and  our  Lady  was  endowed 
with  every  adornment  of  dainty  robes  and  costly  jewels.  Brightly- 
patterned  carpets  from  the  East  were  unfolded,  and  marble  canopies 
glittered  against  the  blue  sky.  Mary  was  enshrined  in  graceful  foliage, 
or  a  heavy  purple  curtain  drooped  from  above,  brocaded  with  gold,  edged 
with  pearls  and  lined  with  rich  ermine.  With  the  sixteenth  century  all  this 
varied  splendour  disappears  at  once.  No  more  carpets  and  flowers  are  seen, 
no  artistically  decorated  throne,  no  charming  landscapes.  The  figure  is 
predominant,  and  if  architecture  is  introduced,  it  is  a  great  and  serious 
motive,  while  all  profane  ornaments  are  banished  from  the  dress.  The 
queen  of  heaven  must  be  shown  in  grandiose  simplicity.  I  do  not  inquire 
if  a  deeper  piety  finds  expression  in  this  change.  There  are  people  indeed 
who  affirm  on  the  contrary  that  anxious  avoidance  of  the  "  profane argues 
an  uncertainty  of  religious  conviction.^ 

An  analogous  elevation  of  types  took  place  in  the  ranks  of  the  saints. 

^  Others  may  express  an  opinion  as  to  the  share  in  these  phenomena  which  may  be 
ascribed  to  the  influence  of  Savonarola.  There  is  some  risk  of  making  too  many  issues 
depend  on  this  one  personality.  We  are  dealing  with  a  general  and  not  an  exclusively 
religious  manifestation. 


215 


The  artist  is  no  longer  allowed  to  introduce  any  and  every  type  of  person 
from  the  street,  and  place  them  near  the  throne  of  the  ]\Iadonna.  The 
fifteenth  century  still  accepted  from  Piero  di  Cosimo  an  old  dotard,  with 
spectacles  on  nose  and  somewhat  dirty  attire,  as  a  Saint  Antony.  Other 
artists  had  aimed  higher,  but  the  sixteenth  century  insisted  on  a  striking 
personality.  It  was  not  necessary  that  the  type  should  be  ideal,  but  the 
painter  had  to  select  his  models.  Raphael,  who  represented  incomparable 
characters,  may  be  put  out  of  the  (juestion,  but  even  in  his  superficial 
moments  Andrea  del  Sarto  never  gives  us  the  mean  and  bourgeois  type, 
and  Bartolommeo  strains  every  nerve  in  constantly  renewed  attempts  to 
give  his  saints  the  expression  of  power. 

More  might  be  said  as  to  the  relations  of  the  persons  who  belong  to 
the  family  of  Mary  and  her  Child  ;  we  might  note  how  the  former  play- 
mate, John,  becomes  reverential  and  kneels  in  adoration  ;  but  we  will 
confine  ourselves  to  a  few  remarks  about  the  angels  of  the  new  century. 

The  Cinquecento  took  over  from  its  predecessor  two  forms  of  angels, 
the  child-angel  and  the  half-grown  girl-angel.  Everyone  will  at  once 
recall  most  charming  examples  of  the  latter  by  Botticelli  and  Filippino. 
Such  figures  were  sometimes  introduced  into  the  picture  bearing  tapers,  as 
in  Botticelli's  "  tondo at  Berlin,  where  one  of  them  is  looking  at  the 
flickering  flame  Avith  a  naive  stupidity  of  expression  ;  sometimes  they  are 
allowed  to  linger  round  the  Bambino  as  flower-girls  or  singers,  as  in  the 
daintily  conceived  early  picture  by  Filippino  in  the  Corsini  Gallery,  which 
we  reproduce.  One  of  the  girl-angels,  with  downcast  eyes,  timidly  offers  a 
basket  of  flowers  to  the  Infant  Christ,  and  while  He  rolls  over  delightedly 
to  one  side  and  grasps  at  the  present,  two  other  angels  gravely  sing  a  hymn 
from  music,  although  one  glances  up  for  a  moment,  and  a  smile  passes  over 
her  features.  Why  did  the  sixteenth  century  never  return  to  such  motives 't 
The  new  angels  have  lost  the  charm  of  youthful  timidity,  and  have  thrown 
off"  their  ingenuous  naivete.  They  now  have  some  share  in  the  kingly  state 
and  behave  themselves  with  corresponding  dignity.  The  spectator  is  no 
longer  to  be  allowed  to  smile. 

In  representing  the  movement  of  flying  angels  the  Cinquecento  reverts 
to  the  old  solemn  hovering  familiar  in  Gothic  art.  Those  incorporeal 
figures  with  the  beautiful  outlines  of  flowing  drapery  had  become  incom- 
prehensible to  the  realism  of  the  fifteenth  century.  It  required  a  more 
matter-of-fact  movement,  and  represented  the  angels  not  as  hovering,  but 


216  THE   ART   OP   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


Madonna  and  Child  with  Angels,  by  Filippiiio  Lippi. 


as  walking  or  running  on  a  small  substratum  of  cloud.  Hence  arose  those 
figures  of  hurrying  girls  who,  in  a  fashion  neither  beautiful  nor  dignified, 
but  very  convincing,  throw  out  their  legs  and  naked  heels.  Attempts  to 
represent  the  "  swimming flight  were  once  more  revived,  with  vigorous 
action  of  the  legs,  but  it  was  High  Art  which  first  discovered  that  ex- 
pression for  deliberate  and  solenm  movement  in  the  air  which  has  since 
been  accepted.^ 

^  The  mediaeval  flying  figures  are  directly  derived  from  the  antique.  The  Renaissance, 
by  the  invention  of  the  running  scheme,  reverted  unconsciously  to  the  style  of  move- 
ment in  flight  with  which  the  most  ancient  Greek  art  had  begun,  and  which  is  known 
in  archaeology  as  the  "running  with  bent  knee"  scheme  (the  type  is  seen  in  the  Nike  of 
Delos,  to  which  the  angel  by  Benedetto  da  Majano  in  the  illustration  on  page  16  may  be 
compared. )  The  more  perfect  scheme,  derived  from  the  motion  of  the  swimmer,  continued 
for  a  time  side  by  side  with  the  other  (cf.  Studniczka,  Die  Siegesgottin  1898,  p.  13),  and 
there  are  parallels  for  this  also  in  more  modern  art.    Perugino's  AsmmjJtion  of  the  Virgin. 


THE    NEW   PEELING  217 


The  chief  remark  to  be  made  about  the  child-angels  is  that  they  too 
are  allowed  to  share  in  the  childishness  of  the  Bambino.  They  are  only 
expected  to  be  children,  and  yet,  to  suit  the  occasion,  the  prevailing  lofty 
and  sustained  atmosphere  of  the  picture  may  be  reflected  in  them.  The 
"  Putto "  with  his  tablet  in  the  Madonna  di  FoUgno  produces  a  more 
serious  impression,  though  he  is  not  praying,  than  the  two  small  naked 
boys,  for  example,  on  Desiderio's  tabernacle  (S.  Lorenzo),  who  devoutly 
draw  near  to  Christ  in  the  act  of  blessing.  No  one  can  accept  the  scene 
as  anything  but  a  playful  one.  Those  youthful  musicians  at  the  feet 
of  the  Madonna  who  play  the  guitar  and  other  instruments  with  skill 
and  vigour,  are  well  known  from  Venetian  pictures.  The  Cinquecento 
considered  this  motive  unsuitable  also,  and  entrusted  the  musical  accom- 
paniment of  a  sacred  assembly  to  older  hands,  that  the  loftiness  of  the 
sentiment  might  be  sustained.  The  most  popular  example  of  the  childish 
"  Putti "  of  the  new  century  is  given  by  the  two  figures  at  the  base  of 
the  Sistine  Madonna. 

7 

Given  this  manifest  tendency  to  treat  an  altar-piece  more  reverentially 
and  to  sever  the  over-close  connection  between  the  heavenly  and  the  earthly 
elements,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  miraculous  was  innnediately  adopted, 
not  only  by  means  of  aureoles  and  nhnhi,  but  by  an  ideal  representation 
of  events  which  hitherto  had  been  depicted  with  great  realism  and 
circumstantiality.^ 

Fra  Bartolonnneo  was  the  first  to  represent  the  Madonna  hovering  in 
the  air  when  she  appears  to  St.  Bernard.  Andrea  del  Sarto  imitated  him 
when  he  depicted  the  angel  of  the  Annunciation  approaching  on  clouds, 
a  motive  for  which  he  had  thirteenth  century  precedents.   Angels  on  clouds 

in  the  Academy  of  Florence  shows  both  types  side  by  side,  and  while  Botticelli  and 
Filippino  make  their  angels  hold  themselves  iipright  in  the  air,  one  can  still  find  in 
(Thirlandajo's  works  traces  of  the  old  running  angel.  Signorelli  is  possibly  the  one  of 
the  Quattrocentists  who  gained  the  most  perfect  form  from  the  new  scheme  (Frescoes  in 
Orvieto)  ;  Raphael  relied  on  him  in  his  Disputa.  Later,  increased  movement  and  fore- 
shortening became  usual,  as  well  as  the  motives  of  figures  issuing  from  the  depths  of  the 
picture,  or  "head-foremost,"  examples  of  which  are  to  be  found  in  the  four  Sibyls  in 
S.  Maria  della  Pace  and  the  Madonna  del  Baklacchino. 

^  In  the  Quattrocento  we  encounter  such  inveterate  realists  as  Francesco  Cossa  of 
Ferrara,  who  couhl  never  be  persuaded  to  give  the  angel  Gabriel  in  the  Annunciation 
a  proper  aureole,  but  fastened  a  tin  platter  to  his  head  (picture  in  Dresden). 


•218  THE    ART   OP   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


are  introduced  into  the  homely  atmosphere  of  a  lying-in  room  {Birth  of' 
the  Virgin  by  Andrea,  1514).  The  Quattrocento  preferred  to  place  its  Ma- 
donna on  a  substantial  throne,  but  after  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century 
Mary  is  once  more  raised  to  the  skies,  and  appears  as  the  Madonna  in 
glory,  an  antiquated  motive  which  in  the  Slstiue  Madonna  underwent  an  un- 
expected and  unique  transformation  in  the  direction  of  momentary  action. 

8 

This  exaltation  of  the  subject  to  supernatural  aspects  brings  us  to  the 
more  general  question  of  the  relation  of  the  new  art  to  reality.  Reality 
was  the  first  thought  of  the  fifteenth  century.  For  example,  whether 
the  result  were  beautiful  or  not,  the  Christ  of  the  Baptism  had  to  stand 
with  His  feet  in  the  stream.  Once  or  twice  some  idealist  of  the  minor 
schools  had  disregarded  this  necessity,  and  had  allowed  the  feet  of  the 
Lord  to  rest  on  a  level  with  the  water  (as  P.  Franceschi,  London),  but 
the  Florentines  would  not  have  tolerated  this.  And  yet  with  the  new 
century  this  ideal  conception  was  naturally  adopted  in  representing  the 
scene,  and  the  same  process  took  place  with  other  subjects.  Michelangelo 
made  the  Mary  of  his  P'leta  quite  youthful,  and  disregarded  all  protests  on 
this  point.  The  diminutive  table  in  Leonardo's  Last  Supper^  and  the 
impossible  boats  in  RaphaeFs  Miracidons  Dranght  of  Fishes,  serve  further 
to  show  how  reality  was  no  longer  the  decisive  factor  for  the  new  era 
of  thought,  and  how  the  unnatural  was  tolerated  when  it  helped  the 
artistic  effect. 

When,  however,  people  talk  of  the  Idealism  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
they  usually  mean  something  quite  different ;  they  imagine  a  general 
revolt  from  limitations  of  place,  time,  or  individuality,  and  the  antithesis 
of  Idealism  and  Realism  is  supposed  to  characterise  the  essential  difference 
between  Classical  and  Quattrocentist.  The  definition  is  not  apt.  No  one 
probably  would  have  understood  these  ideas  had  they  been  formulated  at 
that  time,  and  it  was  not  until  the  seventeenth  century  that  these  antitheses 
really  made  themselves  felt.  At  the  beginning  of  the  Cinquecento  the 
tendency  was  to  elevate,  not  to  repudiate  the  old  art. 

The  fifteenth  century  never  treated  Biblical  stories  realistically  in  the 
sense  of  attempting  to  transfer  the  incidents  to  modern  life,  as  modern 
painters  do.    The  object  in  view  was  to  give  a  representation  appealing 


THE    NEW  PEELING 


•219 


largely  to  the  senses,  and  to  this  end  familiar  motives  were  employed, 
though  the  painter  reserved  the  right  to  go  beyond  them  so  soon  as  this 
seemed  necessary  for  his  purpose. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  sixteenth  century  was  not  ideal  in  the  sense 
of  avoiding  contact  with  the  natural  world,  and  aspiring  to  })roduce  a 
monumental  effect  at  the  cost  of  definite  characterisation.  Its  trees  were 
rooted  in  the  old  soil,  though  they  attained  a  greater  height.  Art  \\as 
still  illustrative  of  the  life  of  the  day,  but  it  thought  that  the  increased 
demand  for  dignified  presentment  could  only  be  satisfied  by  a  selection  of 
types,  dresses,  and  architecture  which  could  hardly  be  })rought  together  in 
reality. 

It  would  be  completely  misleading  to  identify  this  classical  art  with  the 
imitation  of  the  antique.  The  antique  may  speak  to  us  more  distinctly 
from  the  works  of  the  Cinquecento  than  from  those  of  the  older  generation 
— this  question  will  be  treated  in  a  different  connection — but,  judging  by 
their  aim,  the  Classicists  are  not  essentially  different  from  the  Quattro- 
centists  in  their  attitude  towards  antiquity. 

It  is  necessary  to  particularise.  Let  us  begin  with  the  treatment  of 
locality.  We  know  how  much  space  Ghirlandajo  devoted  to  l)uildings  of 
every  sort  in  his  pictures.  Does  he  show  us  Florence  ?  One  certainly  has 
a  view  here  and  there  of  some  street  in  the  city,  but  he  draws  on  his 
imagination  for  his  courts  and  halls.  They  are  structures  such  as  were 
never  actually  built,  all  that  concerned  him  was  the  magnificence  of  the 
impression  produced.  The  sixteenth  century  retained  this  standpoint,  but 
its  ideas  as  to  what  was  beautiful  were  different.  Extensive  views  of  a  city 
and  vistas  of  landscape  were  abandoned,  not  because  artists  wished  to 
produce  a  vague  and  indefinite  impression,  but  because  no  further  interest 
was  taken  in  such  matters.  The  uh'iquite  of  French  Classicism  had  no 
part  in  their  conceptions.^ 

The  desire  to  idealise  locality  leads  to  results  Avhich  certainly  strike  us 
as  strange.  A  story  like  the  Visitation^  in  which  one  expects  to  see  the 
entrance  to  a  house,  the  home  of  Elizabeth,  is  represented  by  Pontormo  in 
such  a  way  that  the  scene  shows  only  a  large  niche  with  steps  leading  up  to 
it.    But  here  we  must  remember  that  Ghirlandajo  in  his  picture  of  the 

^  Raphael,  however,  permitted  a  Ferrarese  to  paint  an  elaborate  landscape  in  his 
Madonna  di  Foligno,  erroneously  supposed  to  be  Foligno.  The  Madonna  di  Monteluce 
shows  the  Temple  of  Tivoli.    Other  cases  will  suggest  themselves. 


220  THE   ART   OP   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


Visitation  (Louvre)  took  an  archway  for  his  background,  a  setting  not  at 
all  calculated  to  elucidate  the  text,  and  it  may  be  said  generally  that  on 
these  questions  our  Northern  taste  is  not  a  trustworthy  guide.  The 
Italians  have  a  faculty  for  looking  to  the  individuality  of  a  man,  and  for 
disregarding  all  environment  as  mere  detail,  which  is  incomprehensible  to 
us,  who  insist  on  some  real  correspondence  between  figure  and  place.  For 
us,  a  mere  niche,  as  the  architectural  background  to  a  Visitation^  deprives 
the  scene  of  all  convincing  vitality,  although  w^e  perceive  the  gain  in 
formal  effect  :  for  the  Italians  any  background  will  serve,  if  only  the  figures 
are  vital.  The  vagueness  of  locality  or,  as  we  may  say,  the  want  of  reality, 
can  never  have  been  felt  by  Pontormo  as  we  are  disposed  to  feel  it.^ 

A  still  higher  degree  of  idealism  led  to  the  placing  of  the  Madonna  on 
a  pedestal,  as  if  she  were  a  statue.  Even  that  was  a  concession  of  the 
higher  style  to  form,  and  must  not  be  judged  by  northern  ideas  of 
reverence.  The  Italian  was  able,  in  this  instance  also,  to  overlook  the 
disagreeable  effect  which  the  motive,  considered  materially,  must  have 
produced,  and  he  adopted  the  same  line  of  thought  in  cases  where  for  the 
sake  of  effect  a  cube  or  some  such  object  was  placed  under  the  feet  of  the 
figure  without  any  further  explanation. 

Leonardo  has  incidentally  raised  a  note  of  warning  against  the  employ- 
ment of  modern  costumes ;  they  were,  he  said,  usually  inartistic,  and  only 
good  enough  for  sepulchral  monuments.^  He  advises  antique  drapery,  not 
in  order  to  give  the  picture  an  antique  tone,  but  merely  because  the  figure 
is  thus  shown  to  better  advantage.  Nevertheless  Andrea  del  Sarto 
ventured,  later,  to  paint  his  fresco  of  the  Birth  of  the  Virgiji  (1514) 
as  a  modern  picture  of  domestic  life,  perhaps  showing  himself  here  more 
consistent  than  any  one  of  his  predecessors,  for  even  Ghirlandajo  mixes 
ideal  motives  from  the  antique  with  costumes  of  the  day,  as  was  customary 
still  later.  Similar  classic  representations  of  the  life  of  the  day  are  shown 
in  the  pictures  of  the  life  of  the  Virgin  by  Sodoma  and  Pacchia  at  Siena. 
The  one  example  of  RaphaeFs  frescoes  in  the  Heliodorus  Stanza  will  be 
sufficient  to  show  that  the  aesthetics  of  that  day  were  untouched  by 
questions  as  to  whether  motives  from  contemporary  daily  life  were  com- 

^  Every  foreigner  is  struck  by  the  incidental  shocks  to  the  sense  of  illusion  so  frequent  on 
the  Italian  stage.  We  may  note,  in  this  connection,  the  historically  irrelevant  personages 
who  are  found  in  the  works  of  Pontormo  and  others,  a  tendency  observed  long  before  the 
sixteenth  century. 

-  Leonardo,  Trattato  della  Pittura. 


221 


patible  with  the  monumental  style,  or  whether  it  would  be  better  to 
transpose  the  theme  into  some  higher  sphere  of  reality,  such  as  the  antique. 
The  era  of  Classical  Art  was  already  past  before  these  scruples  M  ere  felt. 

What  appears  strange  to  us  is  the  nude  and  the  half-nude.  Reality 
seems  here  to  be  sacrificed  to  artistic  exigencies,  and  an  ideal  world  is 
created.  But  it  is  not  difficult  to  prove  in  this  case  that  the  Quattrocento 
had  already  introduced  the  nude  into  historical  pictures,  and  that  Alberti 
had  even  prescribed  such  an  introduction.^  A  naked  man,  such  as  the  one 
who  sits  on  the  Temple-steps  in  Ghirlandajo's  Presentation  woidd  never 
have  been  seen  in  the  Florence  of  that  day,  in  spite  of  the  prevailing 
freedom  of  manners.  But  no  one  thought  of  finding  fault  with  it  in  the 
name  of  realism.  Nor  can  it  be  said  of  a  composition  like  the  Inceiid'io 
del  Borgo  that  it  marks  a  fundamental  departure  from  Quattrocentist 
tradition.    The  Cinquecento  gives  more  nude  forms,  but  this  is  all. 

Allegorical  figures  especially  proclaim  the  new  tendency.  One  garment 
after  another  was  taken  away  from  them  ;  on  the  tombs  of  the  prelates  by 
A.  Sansovino  an  unhappy  Faith  is  seen  seated  in  an  antique  bathing-cloak, 
and  it  is  really  impossible  to  divine  the  meaning  of  the  disrobed  body. 
This  indifference  to  the  purport  of  the  figure  is  inexcusable,  but  even  in 
earlier  times  these  allegories  were  not  national  or  familiar  types. 

The  display  of  nude  limbs  becomes  absolutely  unpleasant  in  sacred 
figures.  Michelangelo's  Madonna  in  the  Tribuna  must  not,  however,  be  taken 
as  a  typical  example  of  the  age.  But  it  must  at  least  be  allowed  that,  if 
any  one  person  may  be  held  responsible  for  great  transformations  in  the 
history  of  culture,  it  was  Michelangelo,  who  introduced  the  universal 
heroic  style  and  caused  considerations  of  place  and  time  to  be  disregarded. 
His  idealism  is  in  every  respect  of  the  vastest  and  most  uncon^'entional 
order.  He  convulsed  the  existing  world  of  realities,  and  deprived  the 
Renaissance  of  its  beautiful  delight  in  itself. 

The  last  word  in  the  question  of  realism  and  idealism  will  not,  however, 
deal  with  costume  and  locality.  All  the  romancing  of  the  fifteenth  century 
in  architecture  and  dress  is  after  all  harmless  trifiing,  the  convincing 
expression  of  reality  depends  on  the  individual  character  of  the  heads  and 
figures  in  the  picture.  Ghirlandajo  is  free  to  add  any  accessory  details 
that  he  chooses  :  on  seeing  his  Zacharias  in  the  Temple  the  spectator  says 
"  The  place  where  these  people  stand  must  be  Florence.""  Do  painters  still 
^  L.  B.  Alberti,  Three  Bools  of  Painting. 


222 


produce  this  impression  in  the  sixteenth  century  ?  It  is  evident  that 
portraits  appear  more  rarely  in  pictures.  One  feels  less  prompted  to  ask 
who  this  or  that  figure  represents.  The  interest  in  the  characteristics  of 
individuals  and  the  capacity  to  reproduce  them  did  not  disappear — the 
reader  need  but  recall  the  portrait-groups  of  the  Heliodorus  frescoes  or  the 
pictures  by  Sarto  in  the  Annunziata — but  the  time  was  past  when  portrait 
heads  were  looked  upon  as  the  highest  artistic  achievement,  and  any  occur- 
rence was  in  itself  important  enough  to  justify  its  inclusion  in  a  historical 
picture.  As  soon  as  the  narrative  was  treated  seriously,  and  the  rows  of 
indifferent  spectators  were  dismissed,  the  situation  was  at  once  funda- 
mentally changed.  Individualism  now  found  a  dangerous  rival.  The 
representation  of  emotion  became  a  problem  which  seemed  occasionally 
to  replace  the  interest  in  character.  The  movement  of  the  body  can  be 
made  so  interesting  that  the  head  may  be  overlooked  to  a  certain  extent. 
Figures  possess  a  new  value  as  factors  of  the  composition  since,  without 
any  pronounced  interest  of  their  own,  they  become  important  in  connection 
with  the  whole,  as  mere  indications  of  forces  in  the  architectonic  scheme, 
and  these  effects  of  form  of  which  the  earlier  generation  knew  nothing, 
lead  of  themselves  to  purely  superficial  characterisation.  Such  general 
types  of  heads  had  always  been  found  in  the  fifteenth  century — they  are 
very  plentiful  in  Ghirlandaj o's  works— and  no  fundamental  antagonism 
between  the  old  and  the  new  art,  in  obedience  to  which  the  latter  had 
turned  away  from  individualisation,  can  be  inferred  therefrom.  Portrait 
motives  became  rarer,  but  it  is  not  the  case  that  the  Classical  Style  postu- 
lated a  universal  ideal  humanity.  Even  Michelangelo,  who  here  once  more 
adopts  a  position  of  his  own,  still  introduced  many  realistic  heads  in  the 
earlier  scenes  in  the  Sistine  Chapel  (in  the  Floods  for  example).  His  interest 
in  the  individual  then  begins  to  wane,  while  Raphael,  who  in  the  first 
Stanza  seldom  went  beyond  general  types,  took  more  and  more  interest  in 
the  particular. 

But  there  is  another  question.  Was  the  individual  conceived  and 
represented  in  the  same  way  as  before  ?  The  eagerness  to  reproduce 
nature  to  the  minutest  detail,  and  the  delight  in  reality  for  the  sake  of 
reality  had  subsided.  In  the  picture  of  man  the  Cinquecento  sought  to 
present  his  greatness  and  importance,  and  thought  to  attain  this  end  by 
simplification,  and  by  suppression  of  all  unessential  details.  It  was  not 
dimness  of  sight  that  made  it  overlook  certain  things,  but  on  the  contrary, 


THE   NEW   PEELING  228 


an  intensified  poNv  er  of  comprehension.  The  loftiest  vision  is  that  which 
ideahses  the  model  from  within ;  it  has  nothing  in  common  with  the 
beautification  of  the  object,  the  idealisation  of  externals.^ 

It  may  be  fairly  assumed  that,  at  the  period  of  great  art,  dissatisfaction 
must  have  been  felt  now  and  again  at  what  was  offered  by  nature.  Such 
feelings  are  difficult  to  discuss,  and  it  would  be  bold  to  define  the  difference 
between  two  eras,  such  as  the  Quattrocento  and  Cinquecento,  by  categorical 
statements,  whether  positive  or  negative.  There  are  hundreds  of  steps  in 
the  conscious  transformation  of  the  model  after  the  artist  takes  it  in  hand. 
A  statement  made  by  Raphael,  at  the  time  when  he  was  working  at  his 
Galatea,  has  come  down  to  us  :  that  he  could  do  nothing  with  models,  but 
relied  on  the  idea  of  beauty  which  occurred  to  him  spontaneously.^  Here 
we  have  an  authentic  proof  of  Raphael's  idealism,  but  would  not  Botti- 
celli have  said  the  same,  and  is  not  his  Venus  on  the  Shell  a  purely 
imaginative  creation 

Ideal  figures  and  heads  were  to  be  found  even  in  the  "  realistic 
Quattrocento  ;  everywhere  we  note  how  gradually  differences  arose.  But 
the  ideal  of  course  fills  a  far  larger  space  in  the  sixteenth  century. 
The  aspirations  of  this  age  are  not  compatible  with  the  intimacy  shown  in 
the  past  century  with  ordinary  life.  It  is  noteworthy  that  at  the  very 
time  when  art  of  itself  discovered  a  higher  beauty,  the  Church  also 
required  increased  dignity  for  the  chief  figures  of  the  Christian  faith. 
The  Madonna  was  no  longer  to  be  any  ordinary  virtuous  woman,  whose 
type  was  a  familiar  one  in  the  streets  ;  she  had  become  a  being  who  had 
cast  off  all  traces  of  lowly  human  origin.  And  now  once  more  Italy  owned 
minds  that  could  conceive  the  ideal.  Michelangelo,  the  greatest  of  realists, 
was  also  the  greatest  of  idealists.  Endowed  wdth  all  the  Florentine  faculty 
for  characterisation,  he  was  also  the  man  who  could  most  completely 
renounce  the  external  world  and  work  from  the  idea.  He  created  his  own 
world,  and  it  was  his  example,  though  he  must  be  accounted  blameless  in  the 
matter,  that  undermined  reverence  for  nature  in  the  coming  generation. 

One  last  remark  must  be  made  in  this  connection  :  an  increased  need 
for  the  contemplation  of  the  beautiful  was  felt  in  the  Cinquecento.  This 
craving  was  not  constant,  and  might  temporarily  disappear  before  other 

1  In  Lomazzo,  Trattato  (1585),  p.  433,  the  following  remark  is  made  on  the  style  of 
portraits  by  the  great  masters:  "They  always  brought  out  the  best  qualities  of  the 
sitters."  (Usavano  sempre  di  far  risplendere  quello  clie  la  natura  d'eccellente  aveva 
concesso  loro),  Guhl,  Kihistlerhriefe,  1  2.  95. 


1 


224  THE    ART   OF   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


interests.  The  antecedent  art  of  the  Quattrocento  had  also  a  beauty  of 
its  own,  but  seldom  gave  it  perfect  form,  because  a  far  stronger  desire 
urged  it  towards  mere  expression,  and  the  characterisation  of  individuals. 
Donatello  may  once  more  be  cited.  The  master  who  created  the  bronze 
David  in  the  Bargello,  had  an  insatiable  appetite  for  ugliness  ;  he  ventured 
even  to  make  his  saints  repulsive,  because  a  convincing  living  individuality 
was  everything,  and  impressed  by  this,  the  public  no  longer  asked  if  a 
thing  was  beautiful  or  ugly.  The  Magdalen  in  the  Baptistery  is  an 
"oblong  emaciated  scarecrow^'  {Cicerone^  1st.  ed.)  and  John  the  Baptist  is 
a  withered  ascetic  (marble  figure  in  the  Bargello),  to  say  nothing  of  the 
figures  on  the  Campanile.  Towards  the  end  of  the  century,  however, 
it  is  noticeable  that  the  idea  of  beauty  is  dawning,  and  in  the 
Cinquecento  that  general  transformation  of  types  appears  which  not 
only  replaces  the  lower  culture  by  a  higher,  but  banishes  stereotyped 
forms  because  they  are  unlovely.  The  Magdalen  is  the  frail  beauty, 
and  not  the  emaciated  penitent,  and  the  Baptist  takes  on  the  strong, 
virile  beauty  of  a  man  who  has  grown  up  in  wind  and  weather, 
without  a  trace  of  privation  or  asceticism.  The  youthful  St.  John, 
again,  is  depicted  as  the  model  of  a  perfectly  beautiful  boy,  and  became 
in  this  form  a  favourite  figure  of  the  epoch. 


The  yuuthful  St.  John  Preachiiigj  by  Raphaeh 


II 


THE   NEAV  BEAUTY 

When  a  new  style  is  said  to  have  arisen  the  first  thought  suggested 
is  a  transformation  of  tectonic  elements.  But  on  closer  investigation 
we  shall  find  that  it  was  not  only  the  environment  of  man,  the  various 
forms  of  architecture,  the  furniture  and  the  costumes  which  had  under- 
gone a  change,  but  man  himself  and  his  corporeality,  and  it  is  in  this 
new  conception  of  the  body,  and  in  the  new  ideas  of  deportment  and 
movement,  that  the  real  essence  of  a  style  consists.  Ear  more  import- 
ance must  be  attached  to  this  conception  than  it  possesses  in  modern 
days.  In  our  age  styles  are  changed  as  quickly  as  one  changes  from  one 
costume  to  another  at  a  masquerade.  But  this  eradication  of  styles  only 
dates  from  our  century,  and  we  have  properly  no  longer  any  right  to  speak 
of  styles  ;  we  should  only  discuss  fashions. 

The  new  corporeality  and  the  new  movement  of  the  Cinquecento 
manifest  themselves  clearly  when  we  compare  such  a  work  as  Sarto's  Birth 
of  the  Virgin  (1514)  with  the  frescoes  of  Ghirlandajo  and  his  lying-in- 
rooms.  The  gait  of  the  women  has  quite  changed.  Instead  of  a  stiff, 
mincing  step  there  is  a  dignified  progression ;  the  "  tempo has  slowed 
down  to  an  "  andante  maestoso.''  There  are  no  longer  any  short  quick 
bends  of  the  head  or  limbs,  but  slow  and  complete  turns  of  the  body,  and 
instead  of  sprawling  attitudes  and  angular  outlines  there  are  easy  positions 
and  sustained  rhythmic  curves.  The  lean  figures  of  the  early  Renaissance 
with  their  sharp  joints  no  longer  realise  the  ideal  of  beauty  ;  Sarto  depicts 
magnificently  modelled  forms  and  splendidly  developed  necks.  The 
drapery  falls  in  heavy  masses  sweeping  the  ground,  whereas  Ghirlandajo 
painted  short  stiff  dresses  with  tightly-fitting  sleeves.  Garments,  which 
formerly  gave  expression  to  rapid  muscular  movement,  were  now  intended 
bv  their  fulness  to  give  an  effect  of  reticence  in  action. 


226 


1 

The  movement  in  the  second  half  of  the  fifteenth  century  is  dainty, 
and  often  affected.  When  the  Madonna  has  the  Child  in  her  arms,  she 
usually  thrusts  out  the  point  of  her  elbow,  and  extends  the  little  finger 
of  the  hand  with  which  she  fastidiously  holds  the  Babe.  Ghirlandajo 
is  not  one  of  the  subtler  artists,  but  he  completely  assimilated  this 
mannerism.  Even  a  painter  of  such  powerful  individuality  as  Signorelli 
makes  concessions  to  the  prevailing  taste,  and  aims  at  graceful  effects  by 
unnaturally  refined  methods.  The  Mother,  w^orshipping  the  Child,  does 
not  clasp  her  hands  simply  ;  only  the  two  first  fingers  touch,  while  the 
others  are  separated  and  point  upwards. 

Sensitive  persons  like  Filippino  seem  absolutely  to  shrink  from  the 
suggestion  of  grasping  any  object  firmly.  Suppose  a  holy  monk  has  to 
hold  a  book,  or  the  Baptist  his  cross  ;  they  are  represented  as  merely 
touching  these  objects.  So  also  Raffaellino  del  Garbo  or  Lorenzo  di 
Credi  :  St.  Sebastian  holds  out  his  arrow  between  two  fingers  Avith  a 


I 


THE   NEW  BEAUTY 


227 


conscious  daintiness,  as 
if  he  were  offering  a 
pencil. 

The  standing  figures 
sometimes  look  as  if  they 
were  dancing,  and  this 
unsteady  posture  produces 
a  most  unpleasant  effect 
in  sculpture.  Benedetto 
da  Majano's  St.  John  in 
the  Bargello  is  not  be- 
yond reproach  in  this  re- 
spect. One  looks  at  it 
with  a  sincere  longing  for 
the  firm  tread  of  the 
next  generation.  Even 
the  reeling  Bacchus  of 
Michelangelo  stands  bet- 
ter on  his  feet. 

A  complete  summary 
of  this  affectation  of 
taste  in  the  late  Quat- 
trocento is  furnished  by 
Verrocchio's  picture  of  the  Three  Archangels  (Academy,  Florence),  with 
which  the  Tobias  in  London  may  be  coupled.  In  the  presence  of  this 
elaborate  ambling,  the  thought  involuntarily  suggests  itself  that  an 
ancient  and  delicate  style  is  breaking  up,  and  that  we  are  face  to  face 
with  the  phenomenon  of  a  decadent  archaism.  The  sixteenth  century 
brings  back  firmness,  simplicity,  and  natural  movement.  Gesture  grows 
calmer.  Petty  daintinesses,  artificial  stiffness  and  strutting  are  dis- 
carded. Andrea  del  Sarto's  Madonna  delle  Arp'ie,  standing  so  firmly  and 
strongly  on  her  feet,  presents  quite  a  new  spectacle,  and  one  can  almost 
believe  that  she  is  really  able  to  carry  the  heavy  Boy  on  one  arm.  The 
way  in  which  she  has  propped  the  book  against  her  thigh,  and  rests  her 
hand  on  the  edge,  so  that  a  large  and  coherent  design  is  formed,  is  a 
magnificent  example  of  Cinquecento  style.  Movement  everywhere  shows 
fresh  force  and  energy.    Let  us  take  RaphaeFs  Madonna  di  FoUgno.  It 


Tobias  with  the  Angel,  by  Verrocchio  (?). 
(Or  jjerhaps  Botticini.) 


THE   ART   OF   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


seems  hardly  credible  that 
we  should  have  to  go 
back  to  Donatello  to  find 
an  arm  and  a  hand  which 
grasp  as  firmly  as  those 
of  the  St.  John  in  this 
picture. 

The  turn  of  the  body 
and  the  inclination  of  the 
head  have  something  in- 
decisive about  them  in 
the  fifteenth  century,  as 
if  men  had  shrunk  from 
vigorous  expression.  But 
now  pleasure  in  the 
powerful  movements  of  a 
strong  nature  is  revived. 
New  force  is  suddenly 
given  to  the  turn  of 
a  head  or  to  an  out- 
stretched arm.  There 
are  traces  of  a  stronger 
physical  life.  The  mere 
act  of  vision  gains  an 
unknown  energy,  and 
the  sixteenth  century 
is  once  more  able  to  depict  a  keen,  powerful  gaze. 

The  Quattrocento  had  enjoyed  the  highest  degree  of  charming  move- 
ment in  the  light-footed  figures  that  speed  across  its  pictures.  This  motive 
was  used,  and  with  good  reason,  by  every  artist.  The  angel  with  the  candle 
approaches  swiftly,  and  the  servant,  who  brings  fruit  and  wine  from  the 
country  to  the  woman  recovering  from  child-birth,  comes  bursting  into 
the  room,  her  draperies  blown  out  by  the  breeze.  This  figure,  so  charac- 
teristic of  the  age,  finds  its  Cinquecentist  counterpart  in  the  water-carrier 
of  the  Incendio  del  Borgo.  The  whole  difference  in  the  idea  of  form  lies 
in  the  contrast  between  these  two  figures.  This  woman  carrying  water, 
who  supports  her  burden  with  stalwart  arms  as  she  walks  along  quietly 


Attejidant  carrying  Fruit,  by  Ghirlandajo. 


THE   NEW  BEAUTY 


229 


erect  is  one  of  the  magnificent 
creations  of  Raphael's  niatnre  and 
manly  sense  of  beauty.  The  kneel- 
ing woman  in  the  foreground  of  the 
Tra}i,sfigur((tton^  with  her  back  to 
the  spectator,  comes  of  a  kindred 
stock,  and  if  we  compare  with  her 
a  similar  figure  in  the  group  of 
women  of  the  HeUodoru.s,  we  have 
a  standard  by  which  to  judge  the 
development  of  power  and  of  strong 
and  simple  line  in  RaphaePs  last 
style. 

On  the  other  hand,  nothing  is 
more  intolerable  to  the  new  taste 
than  excessive  tension  and  laboured 
movement.  Verrocchio's  mounted 
Colleoni  possesses  energy  enough, 
and  an  iron  strength,  but  this  does 
not  produce  beauty  of  movement. 
Notions  of  aristocratic  nonchalance 
are  combined  with  the  new  ideal, 
which  sees  beauty  in  flowing  lines 
and  absence  of  restraint.  In  Castig- 
lione's  Cortigiano  a  remark  is  made 
about  riding,  which  may  appropri- 
ately be  quoted  here.  A  man 
ought   not   to    sit   as    stifl'  as  a 

ramrod  on  his  saddle  ''alia  Veneziana''  (the  Venetians  were  reckoned 
indifferent  riders),  but  quite  negligently ;  "  disciolto "  is  the  word  used. 
This,  of  course,  can  only  apply  to  a  rider  without  armour.  A  man 
lightly  clad  can  sit  on  his  horse,  but  heavy  armour  requires  him  almost 
to  stand.  "  In  the  one  case  the  knees  are  bent,  in  the  other  they  are 
kept  stiff."  ^  Art  confined  itself  to  the  first  form  thenceforth.  Peru- 
gino  had  once  shown  the  Florentines  Avhat  soft  and  pleasing  movement 
was.  His  motive  of  a  standing  figure  with  the  leg  on  which  there  is  no 
^  Pomponius  Gauricus,  De  ScuJptnra. 


Woman  cairyiiig  Water,  l)y  i{ai>hael. 


230 


THE   ART   OF   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


weight  thrown  out  to  the  side,  and 
with  a  corresponding  incHnation"of 
the  head,  was  in  his  day  a  novelty 
in  Florence.  Tuscan  grace  was 
more  sprawling  and  angular,  and 
though  others  occasionally  ap- 
proached him  in  motive,  no  painter 
could  show  such  softness  of  line. 
But  the  sixteenth  century  abandoned 
this  motive.^  Raphael,  who  as  a 
young  man  had  absolutely  revelled 
in  it,  never  recurred  to  it  later. 
We  can  imascine  Michelano;elo''s 
scorn  of  such  poses.  The  new 
motives  are  more  concentrated, 
more  strict  in  outline.  Apart  from 
the  emotional  expansion  that  had 
taken  place,  the  beauty  of  Perugino 
was  no  longer  adequate,  since  it 
failed  to  satisfy  the  taste  for  mass. 
Men  desired,  not  the  remote  and 
isolated,  but  the  compact  and  firm. 
In  this  way  a  series  of  movements 
of  hand  and  arm  were  transformed  ; 
the  arms  crossed  on  the  breast  in 
prayer,  for  instance,  became  a  char- 
acteristic motive  of  the  new  century. 


Venus,  by  Lorenzo  di  Credi.  It  SCemS  aS  if  all  at  OUCC  a  UCW 

race  of  beings  had  sprung  up  in 
Florence.  Rome  had  always  possessed  the  full  massive  forms  which  had 
become  the  artists'  ideal,  but  they  may  have  been  rarer  in  Tuscany.  In 
any  case,  artists  painted  as  if  in  Quattrocentist  Florence  no  such  models  were 

^  It  occurs  in  Sansovino's  group  of  the  Baptism  of  Christ,  begun  in  1502,  but  is 
already  modified  here. 


THE   NEW  BEAUTY 


231 


ever  seen  as  those  Andrea  del  Sarto 
shows  somewhat  later  in  his  Floren- 
tine women.  The  taste  of  the  early 
Renaissance  inclined  to  undeveloped 
forms,  and  slim,  agile  figures.  The 
anmilar  ^race  and  the  salient  out- 
lines  of  youth  had  a  greater  charm 
than  the  rounded  abundance  of 
womanhood  or  the  ripe  strength  of 
manhood.  The  girl-angels  of  Botti- 
celli and  Filippino,  with  their  sharp 
joints  and  lean  arms  represent  the 
ideal  of  youthful  beauty,  and  this 
harshness  is  scarcely  modified  in 
Botticelli's  dancing  Graces,  though 
they  typify  a  riper  age.  The  six- 
teenth century  had  a  different  stand- 
ard. Even  Leonardo's  angels  are 
softer,  and  a  Galatea  by  Raphael  or 
an  Eve  by  Michelangelo  are  beings 
very  different  to  the  Venuses  of  the 
late  Quattrocento.  The  neck,  for- 
merly long  and  slim,  resting  like  an 
inverted  funnel  on  the  sloping  shoul- 
ders, becomes  round  and  short,  while 
the  shoulders  are  broad  and  strong. 
The  straining  action  disappears. 
The  limbs  assume  a  full,  massive 
form.  Once  more  the  ideal  of  beauty 
requires  the  rounded  bust  and  wide 
hips  of  the  antique,  and  the  eye 
demands  large,  harmonious  surfaces. 
The  Cinquecentist  counterpart  to 
Verrocchio's   David    is  Benvenuto 

Cellini's  Perseus.  The  lean,  supple  boy  is  no  longer  considered  beautiful, 
and  if  an  artist  depicts  a  figure  in  early  youth,  he  gives  it  roundness 
and  fulness.    Raphael's  figure  in  the  Tnbiina,  of  the  youthful  St.  John 


Venus,  by  Franciabigio  (?). 


•2.32 


THE   ART   OP   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


seated,  is  an  instructive 
example,  showing  how 
mature  forms  were  given 
to  a  boyish  body,  even 
to  an  unnatural  degree. 

The  articulation  of 
the  beautiful  body  is 
clearly  shown.  The  Cin- 
quecento  had  such  a 
sense  of  structure  and 
was  so  bent  on  express- 
ing the  fabric  that 
all  charm  of  detail  be- 
came insignificant  in 
comparison.  Idealisation 
was  soon  prevalent  in 
this  sphere,  and  the 
parallel  between  the  nude 
study  by  Lorenzo  di 
Credi  (in  the  Uffizi), 
and  the  ideal  figure  by 
P'ranciabigio  in  the  Bor- 
I  ghese  Gallery,  are  in- 
structive in    more  than 

La  bella  Simoiietta,  by  Piero  di  Cosimo.  , 

one  respect. 

The    heads  become 

large  and  broad ;  the  horizontal  lines  are  accentuated.  A  firm  chin 
and  full  cheeks  are  admired,  and  there  must  be  nothing  dainty  and 
small  about  the  mouth.  Formerly  a  high  polished  forehead  was  admired 
as  a  most  beautiful  feature  in  a  woman's  face  ("  la  fronte  superba,"' 
Politian  says),  and  the  hair  over  the  brow  was  sometimes  plucked  out 
in  order  that  this  charm  might  be  displayed  as  much  as  possible.  A 
low  forehead  appealed  to  the  Cinquecentist  as  the  more  noble  form, 
,since  it  was  felt  to  give  repose  to  the  face.  Even  in  the  eyebrows  a 
straighter,  quieter  line  was  now  adopted.  No  longer  do  we  find  those 
highly  arched  brows  which  we  see  in  the  girlish  statues  of  Desiderio, 
where  in  the  half-laughing,  half-wondering  faces  the  brows  are  drawn 


233 


up  even  higher,  suggest- 
ing Pohzian's  rhyme  ; 
they  all  show — 

"  .  .  .  .  11  el  volto  meraviglia 
Con  fronte  ciespa  e  rilevate 
ciglia."  {GioHtra.y 

The  pert,  retrousse 
nose  may  once  have  had 
its  admirers,  but  it  was 
no  longer  fashionable, 
and  the  portrait-painter 
would  take  every  pains  to 
smooth  down  the  uneven 
line,  and  to  give  it  a 
straight  and  dignified 
shape.  That  which  is  now 
called  a  noble  nose,  and 
which  is  recognised  as 
such  in  antique  statues,  is 
an  ideal  which  only  re- 
vived with  the  Classic 
Age. 

There  is  beauty  in  all 
that  gives  an  impression 
of  repose  and  power,  and 

the  notion  of  "  regular  beauty  may  have  been  formed  at  this  period, 
with  which  it  was  in  perfect  harmony.  "  Regular  beauty does  not  mean 
only  a  symmetrical  correspondence  between  the  two  halves  of  the  face,  but 
an  absolute  distinctness  and  coherent  proportion  of  features,  difficult  to 
define  in  detail,  but  at  once  discernible  in  the  general  impression.  Portrait- 
painters  began  to  insist  on  this  regularity,  and  more  and  more  was  expected 
from  them  in  the  second  generation  of  the  Cinquecento.  What  smooth, 
regular  features  Bronzino  paints  in  some  of  his  undeniably  excellent  portraits  ! 

Pictures  are  more  explicit  than  words  on  these  points  ;  an  instructive 
parallel  may  be  drawn  between  Piero  di  Cosimo's  Shnonetta  and  the  so-called 

^  "  Her  wonder  each  astonished  maiden  shows 
With  wrinkling  forehead  and  uplifted  brows." 


L 


Vittoria  Colouna  (so-called),  by  Miclielaiigck 


234  THE   ART   OP   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


Vittoria  Colonna  by  Michelangelo,^  both  ideal  types,  which  epitomise  the 
taste  of  the  two  periods.  The  fifteenth  century  busts  of  Florentine 
maidens  have  no  parallel  in  the  sixteenth  century.  The  Cinquecento 
gallery  of  beauty  contains  none  but  nature  types,  e.g.  the  Domia  Velata^ 
the  Dorothea  at  Berlin,  the  Fornar'ma  of  the  Tribuna,  the  magnificent 
female  figure  by  Andrea  del  Sarto  at  Madrid  &c.  Taste  reverted  to  the 
fully  developed  woman. 

3 

The  playful  fancy  of  the  fifteenth  century  let  loose  all  its  caprices  in  the 
treatment  of  the  hair.  Painters  depicted  magnificent  coiffures  with  infinite 
wealth  of  plaits  and  braids  of  different  kinds,  sprinkled  with  jewels  and 
entwined  with  ropes  of  pearls.  This  fantastically  exaggerated  adornment 
must  be  distinguished  from  the  style  in  which  the  hair  was  really  worn, 
and  that  was  fanciful  enough.  The  tendency  was  to  divide  and  separate, 
and  to  produce  delicate  details,  in  contrast  to  the  new  style,  which  aimed 
at  keeping  the  hair  together  in  a  mass,  and  preferred  simplicity  of  form. 
Even  in  ornamentation  it  did  not  allow  the  jewels  to  produce  any  separate 
effect,  but  only  used  them  when  combined  in  a  harmonious  design.  Loose, 
flowing  hair  was  superseded  by  closely  bound  tresses.  The  waving  curls, 
dear  to  Ghirlandajo  and  his  contemporaries,  which  fall  down  the  cheek  and 
cover  the  ear,  disappear  at  once,  as  a  merely  pretty  motive  which  detracts 
from  the  clearness  of  the  picture.  The  painter  insists  on  the  importance 
of  the  function  of  the  ear.  The  hair  on  the  forehead  is  brought  in  a 
simple  line  over  the  temples.  Its  office  was  to  enframe  the  face,  whereas 
the  Quattrocento  had  no  feeling  for  this  motive,  and  heightened  the  unframed 
forehead  beyond  its  natural  limits.  In  this  older  style  the  vertical  tendency 
was  further  emphasised  by  placing  a  jewel  on  the  top  of  the  forehead, 
while  the  broad  Cinquecento  taste  preferred  to  end  off  with  a  large  hori- 
zontal line. 

And  so  the  change  of  style  progressed.    The  long,  slender  neck  of  the 

Quattrocentist  beauty,  which  had  to  appear  free  and    supple,  required 

ornaments  different  to  those  demanded  by  the  massive  forms  of  the 

sixteenth  century.    The  artist  no  longer  trifled  with  single  gems,  hanging 

on  a  thread,  but  painted  a  solid  chain,  and  the  light,  close-fitting  necklace 

becomes  pendant  and  heavy. 

^  Morelli  denies  Michelangelo's  authorship,  but  that  does  not  affect  our  present 
contention. 


235 


To  sum  up,  weighty  and  sober  effects  were  aimed  at,  and  capricious 
fancy  was  led  into  the  path  of  plain  simplicity.  Voices  were  even  raised, 
which  extolled  hair  Avorn  in  natural  dishevelment,  and  not  a  few  thought 
that  the  complexion  was  more  beautiful  in  its  natural  hue  ("  palidetta  col 
suo  color  nativo than  when  painted  red  and  white,  so  that  the  women 
never  changed  colour  after  they  had  once  made  their  morning  toilette. 
Count  Castiglione  speaks  to  this  effect ;  a  noteworthy  reaction  against  the 
gaudiness  and  artificiality  of  the  later  Quattrocentist  fashions. 

Concerning  the  coiffure,  of  men  we  may  say  at  any  rate  that  their 
formerlv  tousled  locks  were  now  brushed  close  round  the  head.  In  the 
portraits  bv  Credi  or  Perugino  the  hair  waves  as  if  stirred  by  a  gentle 
breeze,  and  this  was  an  intentional  effect  demanded  by  the  elaborate 
coquetry  of  the  stvle.  Pictures  of  the  sixteenth  century  show  the  masses 
of  hair  brought  into  order  and  laid  smoothly  against  the  head. 

In  the  sixteenth  century  men  usually  allowed  their  beards  to  grow. 
It  added  to  the  impression  of  dignity.  Castiglione  leaves  each  man  to 
exercise  his  own  judgment  in  this  matter.  In  his  own  portrait  by 
Raphael  he  wears  a  full  beard. 

The  new  inclination  speaks  still  more  clearly  and  emphatically  in  the 
costumes.  Clothing  is  the  direct  expression  of  men's  conception  of  the 
human  body  and  of  its  movement.  The  Cinquecento  necessarily  had 
recourse  to  soft,  heavy  materials,  long,  full-sleeves,  and  innnense  trains. 
This  is  seen  in  the  female  figures  of  Andrea  del  Sarto's  Birth  of  the  Virgin 
(1514),  where,  as  Vasari  expressly  states,  the  fashionable  costume  of  the  day 
is  represented.  It  is  not  our  intention  to  examine  the  motives  in  detail  ; 
the  important  points  are  the  general  wish  for  fulness  and  weight  in  the 
clothing  of  the  body,  the  development  of  broad  lines,  and  accentuation  of 
hanging  and  trailing  effects,  which  gave  stateliness  to  movement.  The 
fifteenth  century,  on  the  contrary,  emphasised  agility.  Short,  tight- 
fitting  sleeves  which  left  the  wrist  free.  No  exuberant  folds,  but  a  dainty 
trimness.  One  or  two  slashes  and  ribbons  on  the  under-sleeve,  other- 
wise nothing  but  narrow  hems  and  close  seams.  The  Cinquecento 
demands  heavy  stuffs  and  a  rustling  fulness.  It  rejects  a  complicated 
cut  and  petty  details.  The  flowered  brocades  disappear  before 
the  deep  sweeping  folds  of  drapery.  Costume  is  determined  by  a 
system  which  looks  to  obtain  great  contrasts  of  surface,  and  only  that  is 
employed  which  produces  a  general  effect,  and  does  not  require  close  in- 


236  THE    ART   OF   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


spection  to  be  recognised.  Botticelli's  Graces  have  a  network  over  their 
breasts :  such  archaic  subtleties  are  as  incomprehensible  to  the  new 
generation  as  the  conceits  of  fluttering  ribbons,  veils,  and  similar  gauzy 
objects.  Other  ideas  of  contact  prevail,  and  there  is  no  longer  the  dainty 
touching  with  the  tips  of  the  fingers,  but  a  firm  grasp  with  the  whole 
hand. 

4 

From  this  standpoint  we  nmst  glance  at  architecture  and  its  new  form 
in  the  Cinquecento.  This  again,  like  clothing,  is  a  projection  of  man  and  his 
sense  of  corporeal  structure.  An  age  shows  what  it  wishes  to  be  and  where 
it  looks  for  value  and  importance  not  less  accurately  in  the  rooms  which  it 
builds  and  in  the  forms  of  its  ceilings  and  walls,  than  in  the  fashion  of  its 
figures  and  their  movement.  The  Cinquecento  had  a  peculiarly  strong 
sense  of  the  relation  of  man  and  architecture,  and  of  the  resonance  of 
a  beautiful  interior.  It  could  hardly  conceive  of  any  existence  without 
an  architectural  setting  and  basis. 

Architecture  also  becomes  impressive  and  serious.  It  curbs  the 
joyous  liveliness  of  the  early  Renaissance  and  attunes  it  to  a  more  sober 
measure.  The  various  cheerful  decorations,  the  wide-spanned  arches  and 
the  slender  columns  disappear,  and  heavy  forms,  solemn  proportions,  and  the 
most  severe  simplicity  take  their  place.  Taste  demands  spacious  rooms 
and  echoing  footsteps;  it  cares  only  for  great  ceremonials  and  rejects  trivial 
amusements,  and  these  solemn  effects  seem  incompatible  with  all  but  the 
strictest  conformity  to  law. 

Ghirlandajo  gives  us  much  useful  information  as  to  the  internal 
decorations  of  Florentine  houses  at  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century.  The 
lying-in  room  in  the  Birth  of  St.  John  probably  represents  with  tolerable 
accuracy  a  patrician  house,  with  pilasters  in  the  corners,  a  cornice  running 
round,  a  coffered  wooden  ceiling  with  gilded  rosettes,  and  coloured 
tapestry,  hung  unsymmetrically  upon  the  wall.  Then  a  medley  of 
furniture,  useful  or  ornamental,  placed  about  without  any  system.  The 
beautiful  was  considered  to  be  beautiful  in  any  place. 

The  Cinquecento  room  appears  stiff  and  cold  by  comparison.  The 
severe  architecture  of  the  exteriors  seems  to  have  affected  the  interiors. 
There  are  no  elaborate  effects,  no  picturesque  corners.  Everything  in 
architecture  conforms  to  the  new  style,  not  merely  in  form   but  in 


THE    NEW  BEAUTY 


237 


decoration.  All  colour  is  abandoned.  Such  is  the  room  in  Andrea  del 
Sarto's  Birth  of  the  Virgin  of  1514. 

Monochrome  is  adopted  as  more  compatible  with  dignity  of  present- 
ment. Reticent  colour,  the  neutral,  unobtrusive  tone,  is  demanded  in 
place  of  loquacious  brightness.  The  nobleman,  so  Count  Castiglione  says, 
should  usually  dress  in  dark,  unpretentious  colours.  The  Lombards  alone 
go  about  in  bright,  elaborately  slashed  dresses.  Any  one  who  attempted  to 
do  so  in  Central  Italy  would  be  thought  mad.^  Variegated  carpets  dis- 
appear as  well  as  gaily-striped  girdles  and  oriental  shawls.  The  taste 
for  them  now  seems  childish. 

All  colour  was  therefore  avoided  in  dignified  architecture.  It 
disappears  entirely  from  facades,  and  is  only  very  sparingly  used  in 
interiors.  The  idea  that  noble  architecture  should  be  colourless  had 
extensive  after-effects,  and  many  ancient  monuments  suffered  from  it,  so 
that  we  are  obliged  to  reconstruct  the  picture  of  the  Quattrocento  from 
comparatively  scanty  remains.  The  architectural  backgrounds  of  Gozzoli 
or  Ghirlandajo  are  full  of  information  on  this  subject,  even  if  they  cannot 
be  taken  literally  in  every  detail.  Ghirlandajo  is  almost  insatiable  in  his 
variety  of  colours, — blue  friezes,  yellow  panels  on  pilasters,  chequered 
})avements, — yet  Vasari  praises  him  as  a  promoter  of  simplicity,  because  he 
abandoned  the  use  of  gold  ornament  in  his  pictures.- 

The  same  remarks  apply  to  sculpture.  A  prominent  example  of 
Quattrocentist  polychromy,  the  tomb  by  Antonio  llossellino  in  S.  Miniato, 
has  already  been  mentioned  {supra^  page  73)  ;  the  tomb  of  Marsuppini  by 
Desiderio  in  S.  Croce,  which  as  we  see  it  now  is  stripped  of  all  its  character, 
nmst  have  been  another  notable  example.  Traces  of  colour  are  found  on 
careful  examination,  and  in  our  age,  when  so  much  is  restored,  it  would 
be  a  meritorious  task  to  reclaim  these  degenerates,  and  to  make  them 
shine  once  more  with  their  former  brightness.  Very  little  colour  is  needed 
to  produce  a  coloured  effect.  The  mere  gilding  of  a  few  places  is  enough 
to  prevent  the  white  stone  from  appearing  colourless,  in  strong  contrast  to 
the  many-coloured  world  around.    The  relief  of  the  Madonna  by  Antonio 

^  It  was  only  a  step  further  to  adopt  Spanish  dress,  Tlie  sympathy  with  the  Spanish 
nature — "grave  e  riposato" — is  frequently  expressed  in  Castiglione's  book.  He  thought 
the  Spaniards  far  more  akin  to  the  Italians  than  the  mercurial  French. 

2  The  use  of  gold  was  more  firmly  established  among  the  Umbrians  than  the 
Florentines.  It  is  interesting  to  mark  its  gradual  disappearance  in  Raphael's  works  in 
the  Vatican. 


238  THE   ART   OP   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


Rossellino  in  the  Bargello  is  treated  thus,  as  also  the  figure  of  St.  John  by 
Benedetto  da  Majano.  A  gleam  of  colour  is  given  to  the  hair  and  the 
fur  garment  by  a  few  strokes,  without  any  heavy  gilding.  Gold  blends 
naturally  with  bronze,  and  there  are  remarkably  beautiful  combinations  of 
bronze  and  marble  with  gold,  for  instance,  the  tomb  of  Bishop  Foscari  in 
S.  Maria  del  Popolo  at  Rome,  where  the  bronze  figure  of  the  deceased  lies 
on  a  marble  cushion  with  gold  decorations. 

Michelangelo  from  the  first  abandoned  colour,  and  monochrome  was 
therefore  at  once  adopted  all  along  the  line.  Even  terracottas,  which  are 
so  dependent  on  the  embellishment  of  painting,  lost  their  colouring,  as  we 
find  in  the  works  of  Begarelli. 

I  cannot  endorse  the  often  repeated  assertion  that  the  modern 
reluctance  to  colour  sculpture  comes  from  the  wish  to  imitate  antique 
statues.  The  rejection  of  colour  was  a  settled  matter  before  any 
archaeological  purist  could  have  lighted  upon  this  idea,  and  such  radical 
changes  of  taste  are  not  usually  governed  by  historical  considerations 
The  Renaissance  accepted  colour  as  an  element  of  the  antique,  as  long  as  it 
retained  colour  in  its  own  works,  and  all  antique  monuments  when 
represented  in  pictures  were  treated  polychromatically.  From  the  very 
moment  that  the  desire  for  colour  ceased,  the  antique  also  was  deemed  to 
have  been  white,  but  it  cannot  be  said  that  it  originated  the  disuse  of 
colour. 

5 

Each  generation  sees  in  the  world  that  which  is  congenial  to  itself. 
The  fifteenth  century  was  obviously  bound  to  hold  a  standard  of  the 
beauty  of  the  visible  world  different  to  that  proper  to  the  sixteenth,  for  it 
regarded  it  with  different  eves.  In  Politian's  Giostra  we  find  in  his  descrip- 
tion of  the  garden  of  Venus,  a  concise  expression  of  the  Quattrocentist 
sense  of  beauty.  He  speaks  of  the  bright  glades  and  the  springs  of  clear 
water,  he  names  the  many  beautiful  colours,  the  flowers,  he  goes  from 
one  to  the  other  and  describes  them  in  long  enumeration,  without  any 
fear  of  wearying  the  reader  (or  listener).  With  what  daintiness  of  feeling 
he  tells  of  the  little  green  meadow  where 

"  Sclierzando  tra  fior  lascive  aurette 
Fan  dolcemente  tremolar  I'erbette."  ^ 


1  Wanton  breezes  sporting  with  the  flowers  make  the  tiny  blades  of  grass  quiver  sweetly. 


239 


The  flowery  meadow  was  thus  to  the  painter  a  world  of  individuals, 
whose  little  life  and  feelings  he  shared.  It  is  recorded  of  Leonardo  that 
he  once  painted  a  bunch  of  flowers  in  a  vase  with  extraordinary  skill. ^ 
I  mention  this  one  case  as  typical  of  many  pictorial  productions  of  the 
age.  The  reflections  and  sheen  on  jewels,  cherries,  and  metal  dishes  were 
noted  with  a  fresh  delicacy  of  perception,  derived  from  the  pictures  of  the 
Dutch  Quattrocentists.  This  peculiar  pnk  iosHe  of  style  induced  painters 
to  represent  John  the  Baptist  holding  in  his  hand  a  glass  crucifix  with  copper 
rings.  Glittering  foliage,  bright  flesh-tints  and  white  cloudlets  on  an  azure 
sky  were  favourite  pictorial  refinements,  and  every  effbrt  was  made  to 
secure  the  greatest  brilliance  of  colour. 

The  sixteenth  century  knew  nothing  of  these  joys.  The  bright  blending 
of  beautiful  colours  had  to  give  way  to  strong  shadows  and  skilful 
effects  of  perspective.  Leonardo  makes  merry  over  the  painters  who  were 
unwilling  to  sacrifice  beautiful  colour-effects  to  modelling.  He  compares 
them  to  orators  who  use  fine  phrases  without  any  meaning.^ 

Quivering  blades  of  grass,  and  the  reflections  of  a  crystal  are  no 
longer  subjects  for  Cinquecentist  painters,  who  did  not  cultivate  minute- 
ness of  vision.  They  only  realised  great  actions  and  represented  only  the 
great  phenomena  of  light.  Nor  was  this  all.  Their  interest  in  the  world 
became  more  and  more  limited  to  the  human  figure.  It  has  been  already  noted 
how  the  painters  of  altar-pieces  and  historical  pictures  concentrated  their 
efforts  on  the  special  effect  aimed  at,  and  refused  to  justify  the  popular  taste  for 
detail.  The  altar-piece  was  formerly  the  spot  where  every  beautiful  object 
under  heaven  might  find  a  place,  and  in  pictorial  narrative  the  artist  worked 
not  as  a  "  historical-painter  "  merely,  but  also  as  a  painter  of  architecture, 
landscape  and  genre.  Such  interests  became  incompatible.  Even  where 
there  was  no  attempt  at  dramatic  effect,  or  an  impression  of  religious 
solemnity,  in  idyllic  scenes  and  prosaic  representations  of  secular  and 
mythological  subjects,  the  beauty  of  the  figures  swallows  up  almost  every 
other  consideration.  To  which  of  the  great  classic  masters  would  one  have 
entrusted  Leonardo's  vase  of  flowers  ?  If  Andrea  del  Sarto  draws  any- 
thing of  the  sort,  it  is  dashed  in  perfunctorily,  as  if  he  feared  to  destroy 

^  Vasari  III,  25.  It  was  in  a  picture  of  the  Virgin.  Venturi  quotes  the  passage  in 
reference  to  the  "tondo"  (No.  433)  of  the  Borghese  Crallery,  by  Lorenzo  di  Credi. 

Trattato  della  Pittiira.  The  strengthening  of  the  effects  of  shadow  both  in  architec- 
ture and  sculpture  must  be  considered  as  a  step  towards  the  disuse  of  colour. 


240 


the  purity  of  the  monu- 
mental style.  1  And  yet 
he  sometimes  gives  us 
a  beautiful  landscape. 
Raphael  who,  at  any 
rate  potentially,  was  per- 
haps the  most  versatile 
of  them  all  from  the 
picturesque  point  of  view, 
produced  little  in  this 
domain.  The  means  were 
still  everywhere  to  hand, 
but  everything  tended 
towards  an  exclusive  style 
of  figure-painting,  which 
did  not  condescend  to 
notice  any  subjects  but 
figures.  It  is  worthy  of 
remark  that  a  native  of 
Upper  Italy,  Giovanni  da 
Udine,  was  employed  in 
RaphaeFs  atelier  on  the 
smaller  details  in  his 
pictures.  [Later,  the  Lombard  Caravaggio  caused  a  positive  storm  in 
Rome  with  a  flower- vase ;  it  was  the  sign  of  a  new  art. 

If  a  Quattrocentist  like  Filippino  paints  Music  (picture  in  Berlin),  as 
a  young  woman,  who  is  decking  the  swan  of  Apollo,  while  the  wind  makes  her 
mantle,  gay  Avith  the  bright  hues  of  the  Quattrocento,  flutter  round  her,  the 
picture  with  its  "  putti and  animals,  its  water  and  foliage,  has  all  the  charm 
of  a  myth  rendered  by  Bocklin.  The  sixteenth  century  would  have  selected 
only  the  sculpturesque  motive.  The  general  feeling  for  nature  narrowed. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  development  of  art  was  not  thereby  bene- 
fited. The  High  Renaissance  stood  in  a  restricted  domain,  and  there  was 
considerable  danger  that  it  w  ould  exhaust  itself. 

The  tendency  towards  a  sculpturesque  style  coincides  in  Italian  art 

^  There  was  now  a  difference  between  monumental  and  non-monumental.  Other 
considerations  of  style  are  clearly  noticeable  in  the  small  "  Cassone  "  pictures. 


Allegory,  by  Filippino  Lippi. 


THE   NEW  BEAUTY 


241 


with  an  approximation  to  antique  beauty.  There  is  an  inclination  to 
assume  that  the  wish  to  imitate  was  the  effectual  motive  in  both  cases, 
as  if  the  picturesque  world  had  been  abandoned  in  favour  of  antique 
statues.  But  one  must  not  judge  from  the  analogies  of  our  historical 
century.  If  Italian  art  showed  a  new  impulse  at  its  apogee,  it  can  only 
have  been  due  to  a  development  from  within. 

6 

In  summing  up  we  must  once  more  speak  of  the  relation  of  Italian 
art  to  the  antique.  The  popular  idea  is,  that  the  fifteenth  century  had 
certainly  studied  the  antique  monuments,  but  that  it  forgot  alien  influences 
in  the  fervour  of  its  own  production,  whereas  the  sixteenth  century,  less 
gifted  with  a  strong  originality,  never  escaped  from  the  impression  once 
received.  This  argument  tacitly  assumes  that  both  centuries  regarded  the 
antique  in  the  same  light,  but  the  assumption  is  not  unassailable.  If  the 
Quattrocentist  eye  saw  effects  in  nature  other  than  those  beheld  by  the 
Cinquecentist,  it  follows  that,  in  presence  of  the  antique,  the  same  features 
of  the  surface  of  observation  were  not  impressed  upon  the  consciousness. 
Men  only  see  that  which  they  look  for,  and  a  long  training,  such  as  cannot 
be  presupposed  in  an  age  artistically  productive,  is  required  to  overcome 
this  naivete  of  vision,  for  the  mere  impression  of  objects  on  the  retina  is 
not  sufficient.  A  more  correct  supposition  is  that,  moved  by  a  similar 
desire  to  assimilate  the  antique,  the  fffteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries  were 
bound  to  attain  different  results,  because  each  understood  the  antique 
differently,  i.e.  sought  its  own  image  therein.  But  if  the  Cinquecento 
strikes  us  as  more  antique,  the  reason  is  that  its  own  spirit  was  more  akin 
to  that  of  antiquity. 

The  relation  between  ancient  and  modern  is  most  clearly  seen  in 
Architecture,  where  one  cannot  doubt  the  honest  intention  of  the  Quattro- 
centists  to  reintroduce  the  "  good,  old  style,^^  and  where  the  new  works 
are  nevertheless  so  unlike  the  old.  The  attempts  of  the  fifteenth  century 
architects  to  comply  with  Roman  formulae  almost  give  one  the  impression 
that  the  antique  was  only  known  to  them  from  hearsay.  They  adopt  the 
idea  of  the  pillar,  the  arch,  and  the  cornice,  but  their  way  of  constructing 
and  combining  these  features  makes  it  hard  to  imagine  that  they  had  seen 
Roman  ruins.    Yet  they  had  seen,  admired,  and  studied  them,  and  were 

R 


242  THE   ART   OP   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


convinced  that  they  were  reproducing  antique  effects.  When  every  detail 
of  the  J'agade  of  S.  Marco  in  Rome,  built  in  imitation  of  the  arcades  of 
the  Colosseum,  became  different,  i.e.  Quattrocentist,  in  the  all  important 
matter  of  proportions,  this  result  was  not  due  to  any  deliberate  deviation 
from  the  model,  but  to  the  idea  that  the  building  might  be  so  con- 
structed and  still  be  antique.  Architects  borrowed  the  material  part  of 
the  system  of  form,  but  remained  quite  independent  in  feeling.  It  is  an 
instructive  task  to  investigate  some  example,  such  as  the  antique  triumphal 
arches,  which  were  equally  available  for  imitation  in  early  and  later  styles, 
and  to  observe  the  attitude  of  the  Renaissance,  how  it  passed  by  the 
classical  model  of  the  Arch  of  Titus,  and  adopted  archaic  methods  of 
expression,  which  had  their  analogies  in  the  Augustan  buildings  at  Rimini 
and  farther  away,  until  the  hour  came  when  artists  had  themselves  become 
classical.^  The  same  is  true  of  antique  figures.  With  the  most  unerring 
feeling,  artists  only  adopted  from  these  admired  models  such  parts  as  they 
understood,  i.e.  what  they  themselves  possessed,  and  it  may  certainly  be 
said  that  the  world  of  antique  monuments,  which  contained  the  produc- 
tions of  a  ripe  and  of  an  over-ripe  art,  far  from  determining  the  progress 
of  the  modern  development  of  style,  did  not  even  conduce  to  a  premature 
harvest  of  results.  When  the  early  Renaissance  took  an  antique  motive 
in  hand,  it  never  reproduced  it  without  the  most  sweeping  alterations.  It 
treats  the  antique  just  as  the  Baroque  or  Rococo  periods,  so  marked 
in  style,  would  have  done.  In  the  sixteenth  century  art  reached 
such  a  pinnacle  that  for  a  short  time  it  was  on  a  level  with  the 
antique.  This  was  a  distinctly  individual  development,  and  not  the 
result  of  a  deliberate  study  of  the  remains  of  antiquity.  The  broad 
stream  of  Italian  art  flowed  on,  and  if  there  had  been  no  antique 
figures  the  Cinquecento  must  have  become  what  it  actually  became. 
Beauty  of  line  came  not  from  the  Jpollo  Belvedere,  nor  classic  repose  from 
the  Niobides.'^ 

It  takes  a  long  time  to  discern  the  antique  in  the  Quattrocento,  but 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  it  is  there.  When  Botticelli  set  to  work  on  a 
mythological  subject,  he  wished  to  create  an  antique  impression.  Strange 

^  Cf.  Repertorimn  fi'ir  Kunstwissen^chaft,  1893:  "  Antique  Triumphal  Arches,  a  study 
in  the  development  of  Roman  Architecture,  and  its  relation  to  the  Renaissance."  (Wolfflin. ) 

2  The  Florentine  Daughters  of  Kiohe  were  indeed  unknown  at  the  beginning  of  the 
sixteenth  century. 


THE   NEW  BEAUTY 


243 


as  it  may  seem  to  us,  in  his  Birth  of  Vemis  or  his  Calumny  of  Apelles  he 
certainly  did  not  intend  to  represent  his  subject  otherwise  than  as  an 
antique  painter  would  have  represented  it,  and  his  picture  of  Sprhig"  with 
the  goddess  of  love  in  her  scarlet  gold -brocaded  gown,  with  the  dancing 
Graces  and  the  Flora  scattering  flowers,  was  accounted  a  composition 
thoroughly  in  the  spirit  of  the  antique.  The  Venus  on  the  Shell  bears 
indeed  but  a  faint  likeness  to  her  antique  sister,  and  the  group  of  Graces 
is  far  from  antique  in  feeling,  and  yet  no  intentional  wish  to  diverge  from 
classic  models  need  be  assumed.  Botticelli,  after  all,  only  did  what  his 
contemporaries  and  colleagues  did  in  architecture,  when  they  thought  that 
they  were  erecting  their  arcades  of  slender  columns  and  lofty  spans  and 
rich  decorations  in  imitation  of  the  antique.^ 

If  a  Winckelmann  had  then  arisen  to  preach  the  quiet  grandeur  and 
the  noble  simplicity  of  antique  art,  no  one  would  have  understood  such 
ideas.  The  early  Quattrocento  had  approached  this  ideal  far  more  nearly, 
but  the  earnest  attempts  of  a  Niccolo  d'Arezzo,  a  Nanni  di  Banco,  or  even 
of  a  Donatello  were  not  renewed.  Men  now  looked  for  movement,  and 
valued  what  was  rich  and  decorative  ;  the  feeling  for  form  had  completely 
changed,  yet  no  one  thought  that  the  antique  had  been  abandoned.  Was 
it  not  the  antique  which  offered  the  chief  models  of  movement,  and  of 
fluttering  drapery,  and  did  not  the  ancient  monuments  furnish  an  inex- 
haustible store  of  decoration  for  furniture,  clothing  and  buildings  ?  ^  Ancient 
buildings  were  thought  to  be  the  most  appropriate  background,  and  the 
enthusiasm  for  these  monuments  was  so  great  that  the  Arch  of  Constantine, 
e.g\  was  repeatedly  represented  on  frescoes  in  Rome,  where  the  actual 
edifice  was  always  before  men's  eyes,  and  sometimes  more  than  once  in  the 
same  picture.  It  was  not  indeed  represented  as  it  was,  but  as  it  ought  to 
have  been,  brightly  painted,  and  gorgeously  tricked  out.  Wherever 
antique  scenes  were  represented,  there  was  an  attempt  to  give  the 
impression  of  a  fantastic,  almost  fabulous,  splendour.  At  the  same 
time  artists  looked  for  mirthful,  not  for  serious,  subjects  in  the  antiques. 

1  We  have  the  antique  treatment  of  a  contemporary  scene  in  Verrocchio's  relief  showing 
the  death  of  a  Tornabuoni  (from  the  tomb  in  the  Minerva  at  Rome,  now  in  the  Bargello). 
Rome  always  approached  more  closely  to  the  antique  than  Florence,  and  marble  seems 
almost  to  impose  the  necessity  of  classical  conception. 

-  Filippino,  according  to  Vasari,  was  the  first  to  employ  antique  motives  wholesale  to 
ornament  his  pictures. 

R  2 


244  THE   ART   OP   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


They  liked  to  see  nude  forms  with  bright  scarves  lying  on  the  grass, 
and  to  call  them  Venus  and  Mars.  Nothing  was  statuesque  or  marble- 
like, for  men  still  loved  a  gay  variety  of  colours,  luminous  flesh-tints  and 
flowery  meadows. 

There  was  as  yet  no  appreciation  of  the  antique  gravitas.  Men  read 
the  ancient  poets  with  altered  emphasis.  The  pathos  of  Virgil  resounded  in 
their  ears  without  eff'ect.  Their  perceptions  were  not  yet  ripe  for  the  splendid 
passages  which  have  impressed  themselves  on  later  generations,  such  as 
the  words  of  the  dying  Dido  "  et  magna  mei  sub  terras  ibit  imago."  We 
may  say  this  when  looking  at  the  illustrations  of  ancient  poems,  which 
conceive  the  subject  on  lines  so  utterly  opposed  to  all  that  we  could  expect. 
AVe  see  from  the  charming  description  in  Vespasiano^  of  a  humanist — 
Niccoli — dining  how  little  was  required  to  produce  an  antique  impression. 
The  table  was  covered  with  the  whitest  cloth.  Costly  cups  and  antique  vases 
were  placed  on  it,  and  he  himself  drank  from  a  crystal  goblet.  A  vederlo 
in  tavola,'"  the  narrator  exclaimed  enthusiastically,  "  cosi  antico  come  era, 
era  una  gentilezza.'"  The  little  picture  is  delicately  archaic  in  conception,  and 
accords  with  the  Quattrocentist  ideas  of  the  antique,  but  how  unimaginable 
such  a  conception  would  have  been  in  the  sixteenth  century  !  W^ho  would 
have  called  it  "  antique "  ?  or  who  would  have  associated  dining  with 
antique  themes  ?  The  new  ideals  of  human  dignity  and  human  beauty 
brought  art  of  itself  into  new  relations  with  classical  antiquity.  The  two 
tastes  met,  and  it  is  an  intelligible  consequence  that  now  for  the  first  time 
the  eye  learnt  to  regard  archaeological  accuracy  in  the  reproduction  of 
antique  figures.  The  fantastic  dresses  disappear ;  Virgil  is  no  longer  the 
oriental  wizard,  but  the  Roman  poet,  and  the  gods  of  mythology  resume 
their  proper  forms. 

Men  began  to  see  the  Antique  as  it  really  was.  The  childish  conception 
of  it  was  abandoned.  But  from  this  moment  it  presented  a  danger,  and 
the  contact  with  antiquity  necessarily  proved  fatal  to  the  weak  after  they 
had  once  tasted  of  the  tree  of  knowledge. 

Raphael's  Parnassus  as  compared  with  Botticelli's  Spi'ing^  is  an 
instructive  example  of  the  new  conception  of  an  antique  scene,  and  in  the 
School  of  Athens  we  find  the  figure  of  an  Apollo  which  looks  like  a 

^  Quoted  by  J.  Burckhardt,  KvMur  der  Renaissance,  and  recently  in  his  Beilrcige  {Die 
Sammler). 


THE   NEW  BEAUTY 


245 


i^eniiine  antique.  We  need  not  ask  here  whether  the  figure  was  copied 
from  an  antique  gem  or  not.^  The  remarkable  point  is  that  the  spectator 
is  at  once  impelled  to  think  of  an  antique.  For  the  first  time  we  have 
imitations  of  antique  statues  which  have  the  right  effect.  The  modem 
feeling  for  line  and  mass  had  been  so  developed  that  the  distance  between 
the  centuries  was  bridged  over.  Not  merely  did  the  ideas  of  human  beauty 
coincide,  but  a  feeling  for  the  dignity  of  antique  drapery  was  revived,  the 
germs  of  which  had  existed  in  the  earlier  Quattrocento.  Men  realised  the 
dignity  of  the  antique  style,  and  the  majesty  of  restrained  gestures.  The 
scenes  from  the  JEenekl  in  Marc'  Antonio's  Quos  ego  engraving  form  an 
instructive  contrast  to  the  Quattrocentist  illustrations.  The  age  had 
developed  a  feeling  for  the  sculpturesque,  and  the  tendency  to  place  the 
plastic  motive  first  and  foremost,  disposed  men  to  assimilate  ancient  art. 
Nevertheless,  all  the  great  masters  remained  original  in  their  conceptions, 
for  otherwise  they  would  not  have  been  great.  The  adoption  of  some 
isolated  motives,  and  the  inspiration  given  by  some  ancient  model,  prove 
nothing  to  the  contrary.  The  antique  may  be  called  a  factor  in  the 
development  of  the  art  of  Michelangelo  or  Raphael,  but  it  is  only  a 
secondary  factor.  There  was  greater  danger  of  loss  of  originality  in 
sculpture  than  in  painting.  Sansovino,  at  the  very  commencement  of  the 
century,  had  begun  the  magnificent  tombs  in  S.  Maria  del  Popolo  on  truly 
antique  lines,  and,  compared  with  earlier  works,  such  as  Pollaiuolo's  tombs 
in  St.  Peter's,  his  style  seems  to  herald  a  neo-Roman  art.  Michelangelo, 
however,  himself  sufficed  to  prevent  art  from  entering  the  blind  alley  of 
an  obsolete  antique  classicism.  So  too,  where  Raphael  is  concerned, 
increasingly  large  scope  was  given  to  the  antique,  but  the  highest 
productions  of  his  art  were  always  independent  of  its  influence. 

It  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that  architects  never  countenanced  an  actual 
reproduction  of  old  buildings.  The  Roman  ruins  must  have  spoken  more 
forcibly  than  ever.  Their  simplicity  was  now  understood,  since  the  unruly 
desire  for  decoration  had  been  curbed.  Men  appreciated  their  symmetry, 
for  they  had  themselves  adopted  similar  proportions,  and  the  keener  eye 
now  desired  exact  measurements.  Excavations  were  made,  and  Raphael 
himself  was  half  an  archaeologist.    One  stage  of  development  had  been 

^  Von  Pulsky  {Beitrdge  zu  Bajfaels  Studiiun  d.er  Antique,  1877)  is  no  doubt  right 
in  referring  it  to  the  Medicean  gem  of  Marsyas  and.  Apollo. 


246  THE   ART   OP   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


passed,  and  different  periods^  in  the  antique  were  distinguished,  yet  in 
spite  of  this  clearer  insight  the  age  did  not  lose  itself,  but  remained 
^'  modern,^^  and  the  blossom  of  archaeological  study  produced  the  fruit  of  the 
Baroque  period. 

^  Cf.  also  the  so-called  Re'port  of  Ra^ihad  on  the  Roman  excavations  (printed  inter  alia 
in  Guhl,  Kiinstlerhriefe  I.),  and  the  surprising  criticism  of  Michelangelo  on  the  architectural 
periods  of  the  Pantheon,  in  which,  so  far  as  1  can  see,  he  forestalls  the  most  modern 
research.    (Vasari  IV.  512.  in  the  Life  of  A.  Sansovino). 


Venus. 

Copy  from  Marc  Antonio's  engraving 


Ill 


THE   NEW   PICTORIAL  FORM 

In  this  last  chapter  we  propose  to  discuss  the  new  method  of 
representing  objects.  We  mean  the  way  in  which  the  given  object  is 
arranged  as  a  picture  for  the  eye,  in  which  sense  the  term  "  pictorial  form  " 
may  be  applied  to  the  whole  domain  of  the  visible  arts.  It  is  obvious  that 
the  new  feeling  for  the  human  body  and  its  movements,  explained  above, 
would  react  upon  the  pictorial  form  of  the  same,  and  that  conceptions  of 
repose,  grandeur,  and  importance  in  pictorial  reproductions  would  impose 
themselves  independently  of  the  special  subject  of  representation.  But 
this  enumeration  does  not  exhaust  the  elements  of  the  new  pictorial  form  ; 
others  must  be  added  which  cannot  be  deduced  from  the  previous 
definitions,  and  are  independent  of  feeling,  the  results  merely  of  a  more 
thorough  development  of  the  visual  faculty.  These  are  the  actual  artistic 
principles  :  clear  definition  of  the  visible  object,  a  simplified  presentment 
on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other  the  desire  for  increasingly  suggestive 
complexities  of  view.  The  eye  desires  more,  as  its  power  of  receptivity  is 
stronger,  but  at  the  same  time  the  picture  gains  in  simplicity  and  clearness, 
in  so  far  as  the  objects  are  made  easier  to  the  sight.  Then  there  is  a 
third  element,  viz.  the  power  of  seeing  the  parts  collectively,  the  capacity  to 
form  a  comprehensive  conception  of  the  various  parts,  which  is 
connected  with  the  desire  for  a  composition  in  which  each  part  of  the 
whole  is  felt  to  be  necessary  in  its  place. 

This  theme  must  be  treated  either  at  great  length  or  very  briefly,  i.e.  in 
short  sections.  An  intermediate  course  would  probably  weary  the  reader 
without  instructing  him.  I  have  chosen  the  second  alternative,  since  a 
short  sketch  is  alone  suitable  to  the  size  of  this  book.  If  the  chapter 
therefore  appears  unimportant,  the  author  may  be  allowed  to  remark  that 


248  THE   ART    OF   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


it  has  not  been  written  hurriedly,  and  that  it  is  easier  to  collect  running 
quicksilver  than  to  grasp  the  various  components  which  make  up  the 
idea  of  a  rich  and  mature  style.  The  novelty  of  my  attempt  may  be 
considered  as  a  partial  excuse,  if  this  portion  of  my  book  in  particular 
should  not  prove  easy  reading. 

I.  Repose,  Space,  Mass  and  Size 

The  pictures  of  an  age  have  their  distinct  pulsation  no  less  than  the 
pictures  of  an  individual  master.  Quite  apart  from  the  subject  of  the 
representation,  the  lines  may  run  restlessly  and  hastily,  or  calmly  and 
(juietly,  the  space  may  be  cramped,  or  spacious  and  convenient,  the 
modelling  may  be  small  and  jerky,  or  broad  and  coherent.  From  all  that 
has  been  already  said  of  the  new  idea  of  the  Cinquecento  as  to  the  beauty 
of  the  body  and  its  movements,  a  calmer  tendency  may  be  expected,  in 
pictures  more  mass  and  space.  New  relations  between  space  and  contents 
are  established,  the  pictures  become  more  impressive,  and  both  in  outline 
and  in  relief  the  same  spirit  of  repose  and  the  same  reticence  are  felt,  which 
are  the  indispensable  characteristics  of  the  new  ideas  of  the  beautiful. 

1 

The  contrast  is  obvious  when  a  youthful  work  of  Michelangelo's,  the 
Tondo  of  the  Madonna  with  the  Book,  is  placed  by  the  side  of  a  similar 
circular  relief  by  Antonio  Rossellino,  whom  we  may  take  to  represent  the 
old  generation.  (Cf.  the  reproductions  on  page  14  and  page  50.)  In  the 
latter  we  see  a  sparkling  variety,  in  the  former  a  broad  simplicity  of 
treatment. 

It  is  not  merely  a  question  of  leaving  out  details,  of  a  simplification 
of  subject  matter  (as  to  which  something  has  already  been  said)  but 
of  the  treatment  of  surfaces  generally.  When  Rossellino  enlivens  his 
background  with  the  quivering  lights  and  shadows  of  a  rocky  landscape, 
and  fills  the  expanse  of  sky  with  crinkled  clouds,  it  is  only  a  continuation 
of  the  style  in  which  the  head  and  hands  are  modelled.  Michelangelo 
sought  broad,  coherent  surfaces  in  the  human  figure,  and  thus  the  question 
of  how  to  treat  the  rest  was  spontaneously  solved.  The  same  taste  prevails 
in  painting  as  in  sculpture.  Here  also  pleasure  is  no  longer  felt  in  the 
fantastic,  in  innumerable  petty  inequalities  of  surface  ;  quiet,  massive  effects 


249 


of  light  and  shade  have  become  the  desidej'ata.  The  sign  that  governs 
the  movement  is  legato. 

The  change  of  style  is  shown  perhaps  still  more  clearly  in  the 
treatment  of  line.  Quattrocentist  drawing  is  somewhat  hasty.  There  are 
many  petty  flourishes  and  embellishments,  harsh  junctures  and  violent 
interruptions.  The  sixteenth  century  introduces  a  calmer  flow  of  line, 
bold  strokes  and  rhythmic  cadences.  A  new  sympathy  with  line  would 
seem  to  have  awakened  everywhere,  and  once  more  it  is  allowed  to  develop 
freely.  Perugino  began,  and  Raphael  with  his  incomparable  delicacy  of 
feeling  continued  in  the  same  path.  But  even  the  others,  who  were  very 
difl'erent  in  temperament,  recognised  the  beauty  of  the  broad  sweep  of  line, 
and  avoided  the  petty,  breathless  complexity  of  the  earlier  manner.  It 
was  still  possible  for  Botticelli  to  make  the  point  of  an  elbow  press  against 
the  edge  of  the  picture  (Pieta,  Munich).  But  now  each  line  has  to  reckon 
with  other  lines  ;  they  make  mutual  concessions,  and  the  eye  has  become 
sensitive  to  the  glaring  intersections  of  the  former  style. 

The  universal  desire  for  breadth  necessarily  entailed  a  new  relation  of 
the  figures  to  the  space  in  painting.  It  was  felt  that  there  was  a  want  of 
space  in  the  old  pictures.  The  figures  stood  sharply  on  the  front  edge 
of  the  stage,  and  thus  an  impression  of  narrowjiess  was  produced,  which 
was  not  dissipated  even  by  the  extensive  colonnades  and  landscapes  in  the 
background.  Even  Leonardo's  Last  Supper  shows  a  certain  Quattrocentist 
awkwardness,  owing  to  the  manner  in  which  the  table  is  brought  to  the 
extreme  front  of  the  scene.  ^  The  normal  relation  of  figures  to  space  is 
best  shown  in  the  portraits.  What  an  uncomfortable  existence  must  have 
been  passed  in  the  small  room  in  which  Lorenzo  di  Credi  placed  his 
Verroccliio  (Uffizi),  compared  with  the  wide  breezy  atmosphere  of  Cinque- 
centist  portraits.  The  new  generation  required  air  and  space  to  move  in, 
and  it  obtained  this  primarily  by  increasing  the  length  of  the  figure.  The 
three-quarters  length  is  an  invention  of  the  sixteenth  century.  But  even 
where  little  of  the  figure  was  shown,  painters  were  now  able  to  gi\'e  an 

^  Raphael  Morghen  disguised  the  fact  in  his  engraving  of  the  Last  Supper,  and  in  order 
not  to  offend  modern  taste,  inserted  that  interval  between  the  table  and  the  edge  of  the 
picture  to  which  we  have  become  accustomed  since  the  Cinquecento. 


< 


250  THE   ART   OP   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


impression  of  space.  How  much  at  his  ease  CastigHone  seems  within  the 
four  enclosing  hnes  of  his  frame  ! 

Quattrocentist  frescoes  usually  produce  a  contracted  and  cramped 
effect.  Fra  Angelico's  frescoes  in  the  Chapel  of  Nicholas  V.  in  the 
Vatican  have  a  compressed  look,  and  in  the  chapel  of  the  Palazzo 
Medici,  where  Gozzoli  painted  the  Procession  of'  the  Kings,  the  spectator, 
in  spite  of  all  the  splendour,  cannot  shake  off*  a  feeling  of  discomfort. 
Something  of  the  same  sort  must  be  said  even  of  Leonardo's  Last  Supper ; 
we  expect  a  frame  or  a  border,  which  the  picture  has  not  and  never  can 
have  had. 

Raphael  shows  a  characteristic  development  in  the  Stanze.  If  the 
spectator  looks  at  one  picture  alone  in  the  Camera  della  Segnatura  he  will 
not  find  fault  with  the  relation  between  the  picture  and  the  wall ;  but  if 
he  looks  at  two  pictures  together,  as  they  meet  in  the  corners,  he  will 
immediately  become  conscious  of  the  antiquated  dryness  of  the  conception 
of  space.  In  the  second  room  the  juncture  at  the  corners  is  different, 
and  the  pictures,  owing  to  the  space  available,  are  on  a  smaller  scale 
altogether. 

3 

No  contradiction  is  involved,  if,  notwithstanding  the  wish  for  space, 
the  figures  within  the  frame  increase  in  size.^  They  are  intended  to 
produce  a  more  striking  effect  as  a  mass,  conformably  to  the  idea  which 
identified  solidity  with  beauty.  Superfluous  space  was  avoided,  because 
it  was  known  that  the  figures  thus  lost  in  power,  and  means  were  available 
to  create  the  impression  of  breadth  in  the  draAving,  in  spite  of  any  imposed 
limits. 

The  tendency  was  towards  compactness,  weight,  and  solidity.  More 
importance  was  attached  to  the  horizontal  line.  Hence  the  outline  of 
groups  was  lowered  and  the  tall  pyramid  became  the  triangular  group 
with  a  broad  base.  The  composition  of  Raphael's  Madonnas  furnishes 
the  best  examples.  In  the  same  way  we  may  instance  the  combination  of 
two  or  three  standing  figures  into  a  compact  group.  The  older  pictures, 
where  they  represent  groups,  seem  thin  and  fragmentary,  and  generally 
slight  and  light  compared  with  the  massive  compactness  of  the  new 
style. 

^  The  plastic  figure  in  tlie  niche  underwent  the  same  change. 


251 


4 

Finally  the  inevitable  consequence  was  a  general  increase  in  actual 
size.  The  figures  grow  as  it  were  under  the  hands  of  the  artists.  It  is 
notorious  that  Raphael  continually  enlarged  the  scale  in  the  Stanze. 
Andrea  del  Sarto,  in  the  Court  of  the  Annunziata,  surpassed  himself  in 
his  picture  of  the  Birth  of'  the  Virgin,  and  was  immediately  surpassed  in 
turn  by  Pontormo.  The  pleasure  afforded  by  the  grandiose  was  so  great 
that  even  the  newly  awakened  idea  of  unity  raised  no  protest.  The  same 
holds  good  of  easel-pictures.  The  change  may  be  noted  in  every  gallery, 
for  with  the  Cinquecento  large  canvases  and  large  figures  appear  on  the 
scenes.  We  shall  have  to  speak  again  later  of  the  way  in  which  the  single 
picture  is  brought  into  harmony  with  the  architecture.  It  is  no  longer 
seen  by  itself,  but  together  with  the  wall  for  which  it  is  intended,  and  this 
point  of  view  once  accepted,  painting  would  have  been  destined  to  increase 
in  size,  even  if  it  had  not  advanced  spontaneously  in  this  direction. 

The  characteristics  of  style  noted  here  are  of  an  essentially  material 
kind,  and  correspond  to  a  definite  expression  of  feeling.  But  now,  as  we 
have  already  said,  elements  of  a  formal  nature  are  found,  which  cannot  be 
developed  from  the  spirit  of  the  new  generation.  The  calculation  cannot 
be  made  with  mathematical  accuracy  :  simplification  in  the  sense  of 
obtaining  repose  encounters  a  simplification,  which  aims  at  the  greatest 
possible  lucidity  in  the  picture,  and  the  tendency  to  concentration  and 
mass  encounters  a  strongly  developed  will  to  give  pictures  an  increasing 
wealth  of  presentment,  that  will  which  created  compactly  grouped  pictures 
and  first  found  access  to  the  dimension  of  depth.  On  one  side  there  is  the 
intention  to  facilitate  perception,  on  the  other  the  determination  to  make 
the  contents  of  the  picture  as  full  as  possible. 

We  shall  now  classify  the  elements  affected  by  the  conception  of 
simplification  and  lucidity. 

II.    Simplification  and  Lucidity 
1 

Classical  art  goes  back  to  the  elementary  directions  of  vertical  and 
horizontal  lines,  and  to  the  primitive  aspects  of  pure  full-face  or  profile. 
This  admitted  of  completely  new  effects,  for  the  simplest  of  these  had 


252  THE   ART   OP   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


fallen  into  disuse  in  the  Quattrocento.  These  primitive  directions  of  line 
and  primitive  aspects  had  been  assiduously  set  aside  with  the  intention  of 
producing  movement  at  any  cost.  Even  an  artist  so  simple-minded  as 
Perugino  has,  e.g\  in  his  Pietd  in  the  Pitti  Palace,  not  a  single  pure  profile, 
and  nowhere  a  pure  full-face.  Now,  when  artists  commanded  the  widest 
range  of  resources,  a  new  value  was  all  at  once  attached  to  primitive 
notions.  Not  indeed  that  there  was  any  deliberate  archaism,  but  artists 
recognised  the  effect  to  be  won  by  a  combination  of  simplicity  and  richness  ; 
it  gives  an  average  and  the  whole  picture  gains  in  balance.  Leonardo 
appeared  as  an  innovator  when  he  enframed  the  company  in  his  Last 
Supper  by  two  profiles  in  a  pure  vertical  line.  He  could  not  have 
learnt  that  from  Ghirlandajo.^  Michelangelo  from  the  very  first  upheld 
the  value  of  simplicity,  and  among  the  pictures  of  Raphael's  maturity 
there  is  hardly  one  in  which  the  deliberate  application  of  simplicity  to 
secure  a  powerful  and  emphatic  effect  is  not  apparent.  Who  of  the 
older  generation  would  have  ventured  to  depict  the  Swiss  guards  in  the 
Mass  of  Bolsena  in  such  a  way,  three  vertical  lines  in  close  juxtaposition  ! 
Yet  this  very  simplicity  works  wonders  here.  Again,  in  his  most 
sublime  essay,  the  Sistine  Madonna^  he  uses  the  pure  vertical  line  with 
astounding  effect,  and  we  have  the  primitive  element  combined  with  the 
most  consummate  refinements  of  art.  An  architectonic  scheme  like  those 
of  Fra  Bartolommeo  would  be  unimaginable  without  this  reversion  to 
elementary  methods  of  presentment. 

If  then  we  take  a  single  figure,  as  for  example,  Michelangelo's 
recumbent  Adam  on  the  Sistine  ceiling,  which  impresses  us  as  so  firm 
and  secure,  we  shall  be  forced  to  say  that  this  effect  would  not  have 
been  produced,  if  the  torso  had  not  been  turned  so  as  to  present  the 
full  breadth  of  the  chest  to  the  spectator.  The  figure  is  impressive 
because  the  position,  which  to  the  eye  is  normal,  was  achieved  under 
difficult  conditions.  The  figure  is  thus,  as  it  were,  secured.  It  has  a 
certain  inevitability. 

Another  example  of  the  effect  of  such  a  tectonic  aspect — if  we  may  use 
the  expression — is  the  sitting  and  preaching  St.  John  by  Raphael  (Tri- 
buna).    It  would  have  been  easy  to  give  him  a  more  pleasing  (or  more 

1  The  portrait-heads  in  the  Tornabuoni  frescoes  can  hardly  be  instanced  in  this 
connection,  for  here  it  was  not  a  question  of  formal  intentions  on  the  part  of  the  artist,  but 
of  a  definite  social  convention.    This  is  evident  from  his  other  compositions. 


253 


pictorial)  attitude  but,  as  he  sits 
there,  with  the  full  breadth  of  his 
breast  towards  us  and  his  head 
erect,  not  only  the  mouth  of  the 
prophet  speaks,  but  the  whole  form 
cries  aloud  to  us  from  the  picture. 
This  effect  could  not  have  been 
obtained  in  any  other  fashion. 

In  their  methods  of  illumination, 
again,  Cinquecentists  adopted  simple 
schemes.  We  find  heads,  which 
seen  en  face  are  accurately  divided 
by  the  line  of  the  nose,  'i.e.  one  half 
is  dark,  the  other  light,  and  this 
method  of  distributing  the  light  is 
compatible  Avith  the  most  perfect 
beauty.  Michelangelo's  Delplika  and 
Andrea  del  Sarto's  ideal  youthful 
head  are  drawn  in  this  way.  In  other 
cases  there  was  often  an  attempt  to 

preserve  a  symmetrical  shading  of  the  eyes  when  the  light  was  thrown 
strongly  on  the  face,  another  device  which  produces  a  very  clear  and 
restful  effect.  Examples  are  to  be  found  in  the  St.  John  of  Bartolommeo's 
Pieta^  and  in  Leonardo's  John  the  Baptist  in  the  Louvre.  This  does  not 
at  all  mean  that  this  method  of  illumination  was  universal,  for  the  axis 
of  operation  was  not  always  so  simple.  But  simplicity  was  understood, 
and  its  special  value  was  realised. 

In  the  early  picture  by  Sebastiano  in  S.  Crisostomo  at  Venice  three 
female  saints  are  seen  standing  together  on  the  left.  I  must  instance 
this  group  as  a  peculiarly  striking  example  of  the  new  method  of  distri- 
bution, and  here  I  am  not  speaking  of  the  bodies  but  only  of  the  heads. 
The  combination  is  apparently  a  very  natural  one.  One  profile,  a  three- 
quarters  face  (this  the  most  prominent),  and  then  a  third  inclined,  less  inde- 
pendent and  less  strongly  illuminated  :  a  single  inclination  contrasting 
with  tAvo  vertical  lines.  If  we  go  through  the  stock  of  Quattrocentist 
examples  in  which  a  somewhat  similar  arrangement  is  found,  we  shall 
soon  be  convinced  that  the  simple  motive  was  by  no  means  the  obvious 


Three  Female  Saints  (fragment),  by  Sebastiano 
del  Piombo. 


254  THE   ART   OP   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


one.  The  feeling  for  it  did  not  revive  until  the  sixteenth  century,  and 
in  the  year  1510  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Sebastiano,  Carpaccio  could 
still  paint  his  Pi'esentation  in  the  Temple  (Academy,  Venice),  in  which  three 
female  heads  are  placed  together,  quite  in  the  old  style,  almost  equivalent  in 
value,  each  differing  slightly  in  inclination,  yet  with  no  marked  variety  of 
type,  without  definite  standard  or  clear  contrast. 

The  return  to  the  elementary  methods  of  presentment  is  not  to  be 
divorced  from  the  invention  of  the  composition  of  contrast.  It  is  allowable 
to  speak  of  invention,  for  a  clear  discernment  of  the  truth  that  all  values 
are  relative,  and  that  all  size  or  direction  of  lines  is  effective  only  in 
reference  to  other  sizes  or  directions  was  not  to  be  found  before  the  Classical 
Age.  Now  for  the  first  time  it  was  perceived  that  the  vertical  is  necessary 
because  it  gives  the  standard  by  which  all  deviations  from  the  perpen- 
dicular are  recognised,  and  throughout  the  whole  realm  of  visible  objects  up 
to  the  expression  of  human  emotions  by  action  the  truth  was  manifested 
that  the  separate  motive  can  only  exercise  its  full  effective  force  when  com- 
bined with  its  antithesis.  Objects  surrounded  by  smaller  objects  seem  large, 
whether  they  be  separate  limbs  or  w  hole  figures  ;  that  which  stands  beside  the 
complex  gains  an  air  of  snnplicity,  that  which  is  opposed  to  the  violently 
agitated  looks  calm,  etc. 

The  principle  of  effect  by  contrast  was  of  the  highest  importance  to  the 
sixteenth  century.  All  classical  compositions  are  based  on  it,  and  it  was 
a  necesseay  consequence  that  each  motive  could  only  be  admitted  once  in 
one  picture.  The  effect  of  such  marvels  of  art  as  the  Shstine  Madonna^  rests 
on  the  completeness  and  the  uniqueness  of  the  contrasts.  This  picture, 
which  might  be  supposed  to  be  more  free  than  any  other  from  calculated 
effects,  is  simply  filled  with  strong  contrasts.  In  the  St.  Barbara,  for 
example — to  take  one  case  only — it  had  evidently  been  decided  that,  as  a 
parallel  figure  to  the  Sixtus,  who  is  looking  up,  she  must  be  looking  down, 
before  any  special  reason  had  been  invented  for  a  downward  gaze.  It  is  a 
characteristic  of  Raphael's  pictures  that  the  spectator,  looking  at  the  general 
effect,  does  not  think  of  the  details,  while  Andrea  del  Sarto,  who  is  somewhat 
later,  obtrudes  his  treatment  of  contrasts  on  us  from  the  very  first  moment. 
The  reason  for  this  is,  that  with  him,  contrasts  are  mere  formulae  without 
any  special  significance. 


THE   NEW   PICTORIAL  FORM 


There  is  also  an  application  of  the  principle  in  the  psychological  domain  : 
a  passion  must  not  be  represented  side  by  side  with  a  like  passion,  but 
should  be  contrasted  with  other  emotions. 

Fra  Bartolommeo's  P'lctd  is  a  model  of  psychical  economy.  Raphael 
introduces  into  the  group  round  his  St.  Cecilia^  where  all  the  characters  are 
under  the  influence  of  the  heavenly  nuisic,  the  indifferent  Magdalen, 
knowing  that  the  intense  rapture  of  the  others  will  be  more  fully  impressed 
upon  the  spectator  by  this  means.  The  Quattrocento  shows  numerous 
examples  of  unsympathetic  bystanders,  but  such  considerations  were  un- 
known to  it.  It  is  unnecessary  to  say  how  completely  compositions  of 
contrast  like  the  Hel'iodorus  and  the  Transfiguration  soared  above  the 
horizon  of  the  older  art. 

3 

The  problem  of  contrasts  is  a  problem  of  the  increased  intensity  of 
})ictorial  effect.  The  whole  sum  of  the  efforts  which  were  directed  towards 
the  simplification  and  elucidation  of  the  presentment,  had  the  same  object 
in  view.  The  processes  then  at  work  in  architecture,  the  system  of  puri- 
fication, and  of  exclusion  of  all  details  which  did  not  help  towards  the 
whole,  the  selection  of  a  few  grand  forms,  the  reinforcement  of  the 
sculptures,  all  find  complete  parallels  in  pictorial  art. 

Images  were  carefully  selected.  Great  leading  lines  had  to  play  a 
prominent  part.  The  old  way  of  considering  details,  of  groping  after 
isolated  effects,  and  passing  from  one  part  of  the  picture  to  the  other, 
is  now  abandoned.  The  composition  must  be  effective  as  a  whole  and 
be  clear  even  when  viewed  from  a  distance.  Sixteenth  century  pictures 
are  easily  seen.  Perception  is  facilitated,  and  the  essentials  are  at  once 
detected.  There  is  a  distinct  scale  of  values,  and  the  eye  is  led  into 
definite  paths.  A  reference  to  the  composition  of  the  HeUodorus  will 
supply  the  place  of  examples.  We  can  hardly  imagine  how  many  equally 
important  and  prominent  details  would  have  been  forced  on  the  spectator's 
view  by  a  Quattrocentist  painter  working  on  so  large  a  surface. 

The  style  of  the  whole  is  also  the  style  of  each  detail  in  that  whole. 
The  drapery  of  the  sixteenth  century  is  distinguished  from  that  of  the 
Quattrocento  by  great  continuous  lines,  by  the  marked  contrast  between 
plain  and  ornamented  parts,  and  by  the  visible  outlines,  beneath  the 
drapery,  of  the  body  which  ever  remains  the  chief  motive. 


256  THE   ART   OP   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


An  appreciable  part  of  the  Quat- 
trocento form -fantasy  is  found  in  its 
system  of  folds.  Persons  with  little 
visual  sensibility  will  pass  by  these 
fabrics  unheeding,  and  will  believe 
generally  that  such  a  minor  detail 
was  more  or  less  spontaneous.  But 
if  once  an  attempt  be  made  to  copy 
some  such  piece  of  drapery,  it  will 
immediately  command  respect,  these 
displacements  of  a  lifeless  material 
will  be  felt  to  bear  the  impress  of 
style,  that  is,  the  expression  of  a 
definite  purpose,  and  attention  will 
readily  be  given  to  all  the  rippling 
and  rustling  and  murmuring  of  the 
stuff.  Every  artist  has  his  style. 
The  most  hasty  is  Botticelli, 
who  with  characteristic  impetuosity 
dashes  off  long  simple  furrows,  while 
Filippino  and  Pollaiuolo  and  Ghir- 
landajo  linger  lovingly  over  the  con- 
struction of  their  nests  of  folds,  so 
rich  in  form.^ 

The  fifteenth  century  poured  out 
its  wealth  with  profusion  over  the 
whole  body.    If  there  are  no  folds, 
there  is  a  slash,  a  slit,  a  puff  or  the  pattern  of  the  stuff'  to  attract  atten- 
tion.   It  is  thought  impossible  to  let  the  eye  rest  idle  anywhere,  even 
for  a  moment. 

We  have  already  explained  how  the  new  interests  of  the  sixteenth 
century  affected  drapery.  It  is  sufficient  for  a  comprehension  of  the  new 
style  to  have  seen  the  female  figures  in  Leonardo's  picture  of  Anne, 
Michelangelo's  Madonna  of  the  Trihuna  or  RaphaePs  Alba  Madonna.  The 

^  The  drapery  of  Ghirlandajo's  Madonna  in  the  Uffizi  (with  two  archangels  and  two 
kneeling  saints)  is  closely  akin  to  the  famous  and  often  copied  study  of  drapery  by 
Leonardo  in  the  Louvre  (Miiller-Walde,  No.  18). 


Prudence,  by  Pollaiuolo. 


257 


essential  idea  here  is  that  the  drapery  shall  not  overload  the  plastic 
motive.^ 

The  folds  are  to  accentuate  the  body  and  not  to  intrude  themselves  on 
the  eye  as  something  independent.  Even  with  Andrea  del  Sarto,  who 
delighted  to  let  his  rustling  stuffs  gleam  in  picturesque  folds,  the  drapery 
is  never  independent  of  the  movement  of  the  figure,  whereas  in  the  fifteenth 
century  it  repeatedly  claims  attention  as  a  special  motive. 

If  in  drapery  the  forms  could  be  arranged  according  to  taste  (and  it 
is  clearly  comprehensible  how  a  new  taste  aimed  at  substituting  the  few 
for  the  many,  at  emphatic  and  strongly  accentuated  lines),  the  fixed  forms, 
such  as  head  and  body,  were  not  less  subject  to  the  transforming  spirit  of 
the  new  style. 

Fifteenth  century  heads  have  this  common  characteristic,  that  the 
glittering  eye  gives  the  chief  accent.  Contrasted  with  the  light  shadows, 
the  dark  pupil  with  its  iris  has  such  importance,  that  it  is  necessarily  the 
first  thing  one  sees  in  the  head,  and  this  indeed  is  perhaps  the  normal 
effect  produced  in  nature.  The  sixteenth  century  suppresses  this  effect ; 
it  dims  the  lustre  of  the  glance.  The  bony  sub-structure  is  now  called 
upon  to  speak  the  emphatic  word.  The  shadows  are  deepened  in  order  to 
give  more  energy  to  the  form.  As  great  compact  masses,  not  small 
scattered  particles,  their  function  is  to  combine,  arrange,  and  organise. 
What  formerly  fell  apart  as  pure  detail  is  now  made  to  cohere.  Simple 
lines  and  emphatic  directions  are  required.  The  trivial  disappears  in  the 
important.  No  details  may  be  prominent.  The  principal  forms  must  be 
conspicuous  enough  to  secure  the  proper  effect  at  all  distances. 

It  is  difficult  to  speak  convincingly  on  such  topics  without  adducing 
instances,  and  even  demonstration  will  be  useless,  unless  personal  experience 
coincides  with  it.  Instead  of  going  into  particulars  we  will  let  the  question 
rest  on  a  comparison  of  the  two  portraits  by  Perugino  and  Raphael,  repro- 
duced on  page  123  and  as  frontispiece.  The  observer  will  be  able  to  con- 
vince himself  that  Perugino,  while  minutely  elaborating  his  work,  uses 
shadows  only  in  small  quantities  without  emphasis,  and  that  he  employs 
them  cautiously,  as  if  they  were  a  necessary  evil.  Raphael,  on  the  contrary, 
shades  boldly,  not  only  to  strengthen  the  relief,  but  more  especially  as  a 
means  of  welding  the  presentment  together  in  a  few  large  forms.    By  these 

1  Leonardo,  Trattato  della  Pittura :  "Do  not  make  your  figures  too  rich  in  orna- 
mentations, lest  these  sliould  interfere  with  the  form  and  position  of  the  figures." 

S 


258  THE   ART   OP   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


means  the  orbits  of  the  eyes  and  the  nose  are  included  in  one  stroke,  and 
the  eye  appears  clear  and  simple  by  the  side  of  the  quiet  masses  of  shadow 
which  surround  it.  The  angle  between  nose  and  eyes  is  always  emphasised 
in  the  Cinquecento  ;  it  is  of  decisive  importance  for  the  physiognomy,  a 
centre  where  many  threads  of  expression  meet. 

The  secret  of  the  great  style  is  to  say  much  in  few  words. 

We  will  not  attempt  to  follow  the  new  ideas  to  the  point  where  they  are 
faced  by  the  problem  of  the  whole  body,  nor  even  to  render  a  detailed 
account  of  the  simplified  method  of  representing  the  body  by  the  selection 
of  essentials.  It  is  not  the  growth  of  anatomical  knowledge  which  decides 
the  question  here,  but  a  habit  of  seeing  the  figure  in  its  great  outlines. 
The  way  in  which  the  articulations  of  the  body  are  understood,  and  the 
essential  points  of  development  noted,  presupposes  a  feeling  for  organic 
structure  which  is  independent  of  anatomical  erudition. 

The  same  development  plays  its  part  in  architecture  ;  we  need  take  but 
one  example  of  it  here.  The  fifteenth  century  allowed  the  profile  of  an 
arched  niche  to  be  continued  uniformly  all  round ;  now  an  abutment  is 
required,  i.e.  the  important  point  Avhere  the  arch  springs  has  to  be  empha- 
sised. A  precisely  similar  definition  of  the  articulations  of  the  body  was 
insisted  upon.  A  new  manner  of  setting  the  neck  on  the  torso  appears. 
The  parts  are  more  distinctly  differentiated,  but  at  the  same  time  the  body 
as  a  whole  acquires  a  more  convincing  unity.  There  was  an  effort  made 
to  grasp  the  important  points  of  attachment ;  men  learnt  to  understand 
what  had  been  so  long  shown  them  in  the  antique.  The  ultimate  result 
indeed  was  that  corporeal  structure  became  a  purely  mechanical  exercise — 
for  which,  however,  the  great  masters  are  not  to  be  held  responsible. 

The  question  at  issue  now  was  not  merely  the  representation  of  man  in 
repose,  but  still  more  that  of  his  emotions,  his  physical  and  spiritual 
functions.  An  interminable  array  of  new  problems  arose  in  the  domain  of 
physical  movement  and  of  physiognomic  expression.  Standing,  walking, 
lifting,  carrying,  running  and  flying — every  physical  action,  in  short,  had 
to  be  elaborated  in  accordance  with  the  new  requirements,  no  less  than 
the  expression  of  the  emotions.  It  seemed  everywhere  both  possible  and 
necessary  to  surpass  the  Quattrocento  in  clarity  and  in  force  of  expression. 
Signorelli  did  most  to  prepare  the  way  for  representations  of  action  in 
nude  bodies ;  independently  of  the  laboriously  minute  study  of  details 
which  the  Florentines  made,  he  arrived  more  certainly  at  a  comprehension 


THE   NEW   PICTORIAL  FORM 


259 


of 'what  was  impressive  to  the  eye  and  essential  to  the  conception.  But 
with  all  his  art  he  seems  merely  to  offer  hints  and  suggestions  as  compared 
with  Michelangelo.  It  was  Michelangelo  who  first  discovered  those  aspects 
of  the  functions  of  the  muscles,  which  compel  the  spectator  to  realise  the 
incident.  The  eflects  he  wins  from  his  material  are  as  novel  as  if  no  artist 
before  him  had  ever  m  orked  upon  it.  The  series  of  Slaves  in  the  Sistine 
Chapel,  now  that  the  cartoon  of  the  Bathing  Soldiers  is  lost,  nuist  be 
termed  the  real  "  School  of  the  World,""  the  "  Gradus  ad  Parnassum.'"  It 
is  only  necessarv  to  look  at  the  drawing  of  the  arms,  to  get  an  idea  of  the 
significance  of  the  work.  Whereas  the  Quattrocento  sought  out  the  most 
easily  attainable  ways  of  presentment,  e.g.  the  profile  view  of  the  elbow, 
generation  after  generation  continuing  the  scheme,  one  man  suddenly 
broke  down  all  barriers,  and  exhibited  drawings  of  the  joints  which  must 
ha\'e  been  an  absolute  revelation  to  the  spectator.  The  mighty  limbs  of 
these  Slaves,  no  longer  uniformly  shown  in  their  full  breadth,  nor  with  a  dull 
parallelism  of  contours,  make  an  impression  of  life  surpassing  that  of  nature 
itself.  The  inward  and  outward  sweep  of  the  line,  the  expansion  and  con- 
traction of  the  form,  bring  about  this  effect.  We  shall  have  to  speak  of  fore- 
shortening further  on.  Michelangelo  is  for  all  time  the  great  teacher,  who 
showed  what  the  efl'ective  points  of  view  are.  To  take  a  simple  example 
in  illustration,  let  us  turn  back  to  the  figures  of  women  carrying  burdens 
by  Ghirlandajo  and  Raphael  (see  the  reproductions  on  p.  228  and  p.  229). 
When  we  note  the  superiority  of  the  lowered  left  arm  holding  a  flagon  in 
Raphael's  picture  to  that  in  Ghirlandajo's,  we  shall  have  a  standpoint  from 
which  to  estimate  the  difference  of  draughtsmanship  in  the  fifteenth  and 
sixteenth  centuries.^ 

As  soon  as  the  pictorial  importance  of  the  joints  became  evident,  it  was 
natural  that  artists  should  have  desired  to  make  them  all  visible,  and  hence 
arose  that  tendency  to  bare  the  arms  and  legs,  which  was  not  held  in  check 
even  in  the  rendering  of  saintly  figures.  The  sleeves  of  male  saints  were 
often  thrown  back,  for  the  elbow-joint  had  to  be  seen.  Michelangelo 
went  further,  and  bared  the  arm  of  his  Virgin  up  to  the  shoulder- 
joint  (Madon  na  of  the  Tribuna).  Although  other  painters  do  not  follow 
him  in  this,  yet  the  exposure  of  the  junction  of  arm  and  shoulder  is  common 
in  the  case  of  angels.    Beauty  came  to  be  identified  with  a  clear  definition 

^  It  is  immaterial  in  this  connection  that  we  have  reproduced  Raphael's  figure,  not 
from  an  original  drawing,  but  from  an  old  copy  of  the  fresco. 

s  2 


260  THE   ART   OP   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


Reclining  Venus  (fragment),  by  Piero  di  Cosimo. 


of  the  joints.  As  a  prominent  instance  of  the  defective  knowledge  of 
organic  structure  which  was  pecuhar  to  the  fifteenth  century,  we  may  cite 
the  treatment  of  the  loin-cloth  in  the  figure  of  Christ  or  St.  Sebastian.  This 
piece  of  drapery  is  intolerable  when  it  conceals  the  lines  of  transition 
between  the  torso  and  the  extremities.  Botticelli  and  Verrocchio  do  not 
seem  to  have  felt  any  reluctance  to  nuitilate  the  body  in  this  way,  but  in 
the  sixteenth  century  the  loin-cloth  is  arranged  in  a  manner  which  clearly 
expresses  a  comprehension  of  the  structural  idea  and  a  w  ish  to  preserve  the 
purity  of  presentment.  It  is  not  surprising  that  Perugino,  with  his  archi- 
tectonic cast  of  thought,  should  have  soon  arrived  at  a  similar  solution. 

In  order  to  end  this  discussion  with  a  more  weighty  example,  let  us 
place  side  by  side  the  Venus  in  Piero  di  Cosimo's  Venus  and  Mars^  in 
Berlin,  and  Titian's  recumbent  Venus  in  the  IJffizi,  where  Titian  must  be 
the  representative  of  the  Cinquecento  for  Central  Italy  also,  since  no 
figure  equally  good  for  purposes  of  comparison  can  be  found.  We  have 
then  in  both  pictures  a  nude  recumbent  female  figure.  The  reader  will  at 
first  naturally  wish  to  explain  the  difference  of  effect  by  the  difference  of 
the  model.  But  if  he  further  says  that  the  articulated  beauty  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  as  w^e  showed  it  above  (p.  231)  in  Franciabigio's  study, 
is  being  compared  with  the  inarticulated  product  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
and  that  a  form  after  the  style  of  the  Cinquecento,  where  the  firm  outline 
is  emphasised  in  contrast  to  the  swelling  fleshy  parts,  must  necessarily  be 
superior  in  clarity,  we  shall  still  feel  that  there  are  other  vast  differences  in 
the  manner  of  representing  the  figure.    In  the  one  case  it  is  rendered  in 


THE    NEW   PICTORIAL   FORM  261 


Reclining  Venus,  by  Titian. 


a  fragmentary  and  faulty  fashion,  in  the  other  with  the  most  consunnnate 
perspicuity.  Even  novices  in  the  study  of  Italian  art  will  be  puzzled  when 
they  examine  l^iero's  drawing  of  the  right  leg,  a  uniform  line  parallel  to 
the  frame  of  the  picture.  It  is  quite  possible  that  the  model  presented 
this  view,  but  why  did  the  painter  allow  himself  to  be  satisfied  with  it 't 
Why  does  he  show  nothing  of  the  conformation  of  the  limb  He  had  no 
desire  to  do  so.  The  leg  is  stretched  out ;  it  would  not  look  different  M  ere 
it  absolutely  stiff;  it  is  loaded  and  compressed  from  above,  but  it  looks  as 
if  it  were  withered.  It  is  against  such  distortions  of  physical  development 
that  the  new  style  enters  its  protest.  We  must  not  say  that  Piero  is  merely 
an  inferior  draughtsman  to  Titian.  The  question  is  one  of  generic  differ- 
ence of  style,  and  he  who  investigates  the  problem  will  be  surprised  at  the 
extent  of  the  analogies  to  be  discovered  in  connection  therewith.  Dlirer  s 
earlier  drawings  might  supply  parallels  to  Piero's  figures. 


I 


262  THE    ART   OP   THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


The  body,  bulging  in  the  invariable  Quattrocento  style,  leans  over  to 
one  side.  The  attitude  is  far  from  pleasing,  but  we  would  allow  the 
realist  to  gratify  himself  in  this  respect,  if  only  he  had  not  cut  off  the 
connection  between  the  legs  and  the  body.  There  is  a  complete  absence 
of  the  continuity  of  outline  which  is  required  by  the  representation. 

In  the  same  way  the  left  arm  suddenly  disappears  at  the  shoulder,  with- 
out any  hint  as  to  its  form,  until  we  discover  a  hand  which  nmst  belong  to 
it,  though  it  has  no  visible  connection  with  it.  If  we  ask  for  any  explana- 
tion of  the  functions,  how  the  weight  of  the  body  on  the  right  arm  is 
suggested,  the  turn  of  the  head,  or  the  movement  of  the  wrist,  Piero  tells 
us  nothing.  Titian  not  only  exhibits  the  formation  of  the  body  with  absolute 
clearness,  leaving  us  in  no  uncertainty  on  any  single  point,  but  the  action 
of  each  part  is  carefully  yet  adequately  represented.  We  need  not  dwell  on 
the  harmony  of  line,  how  on  the  right  side  especially  the  contour  flows 
downwards  in  an  even  rhythmic  cadence.  It  may  however  be  said  generally 
that  even  Titian  did  not  compose  so  admirably  from  the  first.  The  simpler 
and  earlier  Venus  with  the  dog  in  the  Tribuna,  may  have  the  advantage  of 
gi'eater  freshness,  but  it  is  not  so  mature  a  production. 

What  is  true  of  the  individual  figure  applies  in  a  still  higher  degree  to 
a  combination  of  several  figures.  The  Quattrocento  made  incredible 
demands  on  the  eye.  The  spectator  not  only  has  the  greatest  difiiculty  in 
picking  out  individual  faces  from  the  closely-massed  rows  of  heads,  but  is 
given  fragmentary  figures  to  look  at,  of  which  it  is  almost  impossible  to 
imagine  the  complete  forms.  There  seemed  no  limit  to  what  might  be 
done  in  the  way  of  audacious  intersections  and  concealments.  I  may 
instance  the  intolerable  segments  of  figures  in  Ghirlandajo's  Visitation 
(Louvre)  or  Botticelli's  Adoration  of  the  Kings  in  the  Ufiizi,  where  the 
reader  is  invited  to  analyse  the  right  half  of  the  picture.  Signorelli's 
frescoes  at  Orvieto,  with  their  absolutely  inextricable  confusion  of  figures 
might  be  recommended  to  advanced  students.  On  the  other  hand,  how 
profound  is  the  sense  of  satisfaction  with  which  the  eye  dwells  on  those 
compositions  of  RaphaeFs  which  are  richest  in  figures  ;  I  speak  of  his  Roman 
works,  for  he  is  still  indistinct  in  his  Entombment. 

The  same  impropriety  is  found  in  the  use  of  architectural  details.  The 
portico  in  Ghirlandajo's  fresco  of  the  Sacrifice  of  Joachim  is  so  designed 
that  the  pilasters  with  their  capitals  abut  on  the  upper  margin  of  the 
picture.    Every  one  at  the  present  time  would  say  that  he  ought  either  to 


THE    NEW   PICTORIAL  FORM 


263 


have  included  the  entablature  or  to  have  cut  off  the  pilasters  lower  down. 
But  it  was  the  Cinquecentists  who  made  this  criticism  inevitable.  Perugino 
was  superior  to  the  others  in  this  point  also,  yet  archaisms  of  the  kind  are 
still  found  with  him,  as  when  he  imagines  that  he  can  indicate  the  span  of 
an  arch  by  means  of  the  small  ends  of  a  cornice  projecting  from  the  edge 
of  the  picture.  The  proportions  of  rooms  in  old  Filippo  Lippi's  works 
are  positively  ludicrous.  They  are  taken  into  account  in  the  judgment 
passed  on  him  in  the  first  chapter  of  this  book. 

III.  Enrichment 
1 

Among*  the  achievements  of  the  sixteenth  century  the  first  place  must 
be  awarded  to  the  complete  emancipation  of  physical  movement.  It  is 
this  quality  which  primarily  determines  the  impression  of  richness  in  a 
Cinquecentist  picture.  The  activity  of  body  seems  to  be  due  to  more 
lively  organs,  and  the  eye  of  the  spectator  is  incited  to  increased  activity. 

Movement  does  not  now  mean  simple  progression.  The  Quattrocento 
shows  many  examples  of  running  and  springing,  and  yet  a  certain  poverty 
and  emptiness  is  inseparable  from  it  all,  inasmuch  as  a  very  limited  use  is 
made  of  the  joints,  and  the  possibilities  of  turnings  and  bendings  in  the 
greater  and  lesser  arti(;ulation  of  the  body  were  only  partially  exhausted. 
At  this  point  the  sixteenth  century  steps  in  with  such  a  development  of 
the  body,  such  an  enriched  presentment  even  of  the  figure  at  rest  that  we 
recognise  the  inauguration  of  a  new  era.  The  figure  at  once  becomes  rich 
in  directions,  and  what  was  previously  regarded  as  a  flat  surface  acquires 
depth,  and  becomes  a  complex  form  in  which  the  third  dimension  plays  its 
part. 

It  is  a  prevalent  mistake  among  amateurs  in  art  that  everything  is 
possible  at  all  times,  and  that  art,  as  soon  as  it  has  acquired  some  facility 
in  expression,  will  at  once  be  able  to  represent  any  movement.  In  reality 
art  develops  like  a  plant,  which  slowly  puts  forth  leaf  upon  leaf,  until  at 
last  it  stands  round  and  full  and  branching  out  on  every  side.  This 
tranquil  and  regular  growth  is  peculiar  to  all  organic  systems  of  art, 
but  it  can  nowhere  be  observed  so  perfectly  as  in  the  antique  and  in 
Italian  art. 


264 


THE   ART   OF   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


I  repeat  that  av  e  are  not  concerned 
here  with  movements  which  aim  at  some 
new^  purpose,  or  serA  e  some  new  form  of 
expression.  We  are  merely  discussing 
the  more  or  less  elaborate  picture  of 
a  seated,  standing,  or  leaning  figure, 
where  there  is  one  main  action,  but 
where  by  contrasts  in  the  turn  of  the 
upper  and  the  lower  part  of  the  body, 
or  of  the  head  and  the  breast,  by  the 
raising  of  one  foot,  the  extension  of 
an  arm,  the  thrusting  forward  of  a 
shoulder,  and  such-like  gestures,  very 
varied  contours  of  torso  and  limbs  may 
be  obtained.  No  sooner  did  these  be- 
come general  than  certain  rules  for  the 
application  of  motives  of  movement 
were  formulated,  and  the  system  of 
diagonal  correspondence,  in  which,  for 
example,  the  bend  of  the  left  arm  cor- 
responds to  that  of  the  right  leg  and 
vice  versa^  is  called  "  contraposition.''' 
But  the  term  "  contraposition  "  cannot 
be  applied  to  the  entire  phenomenon. 

It  mii>:ht  now  be  thoutjht  desirable 
to  draw  up  a  scheme  of  the  differen- 
tiation of  the  correlative  parts,  the 
arms  and  legs,  shoulders  and  hips,  and 
of  the  newly  discovered  possibilities  of 
movement  in  the  three  dimensions.  But 
the  reader  must  not  expect  this  here, 
and,  as  so  much  has  already  been  said 
about  plastic  richness,  he    must  be 
satisfied  with  a  few  selected  examples. 
The  methods  of  the  new  style  will 
be  most  clearly  shown  in  the  cases  where  the  artist  has  to  deal  with  the 
perfectly  motionless  form,  as  in  the  theme  of  the  Crucified  Christ,  a  figure, 


Perseus  (cast),  by  Benvenuto  Cellini. 


THE   NEW  PICTORIAL  FORM 


265 


which  owing  to  the  fixity  of  the  ex- 
tremities, does  not  seem  susceptible 
of  variation.  Yet  the  art  of  the 
Cinquecento  gave  novelty  even  to 
this  barren  motive,  by  doing  aw  ay 
with  the  symmetrical  disposition  of 
the  legs,  and  placing  one  knee  over 
the  other,  while  by  a  general  turn  of 
the  figure  it  produced  a  contrast  of 
direction  between  the  upper  and 
lower  parts  of  the  body.  This  treat- 
ment has  been  already  discussed  in 
the  case  of  Abertinelli  (cf.  p.  154). 
Michelangelo  worked  out  this  motive 
to  its  logical  conclusion.  And  it 
may  be  remarked  incidentally  that 
he  added  the  element  of  emotion. 
He  created  the  figure  of  the  Crucified 
Lord  who  is  casting  His  eyes  up- 
wards, and  whose  mouth  is  opened 
to  utter  the  cry  of  anguish.^ 

The  motive  of  the  bound  figure 
presents  richer  possibilities.  St. 
Sebastian  fastened  to  the  stake,  or 
the  Christ  of  the  Flagellation,  or 
even  that  series  of  Slaves  fettered  to 
pillars  which  Michelangelo  proposed 
for  the  tomb  of  Julius.  The  influ- 
ence of  these  very  "  Captives on  re- 
ligious subjects  can  be  clearly  traced, 
and  if  Michelangelo  had  completed 

the  full  series  for  the  tomb,  little  more  would  have  been  left  to  discover. 

AVhen  we  approach  the  subject  of  the  unsupported  standing  figure,  vast 
prospects  naturally  open  out  before  us.    We  will  only  ask  A\hat  the 


Giovannino,  in  the  Berlm  Museum. 


1  Vasari  (VII.  275)  gives  another  interpretation:  "  Alzato  la  testa  raccomanda  lo 
spirito  al  padre."  The  composition  is  preserved  only  in  copies.  (Reproduction  in 
Springer's  Raffael  und  Michelanyelo.)    This  is  the  origin  of  the  Seicentist  Crucified  Christ. 


266 


THE   ART   OP    THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


sixteenth  century  would  have  done  with 
Donatello's  bronze  David  ?  It  has  such 
affinity  to  the  classical  style  in  the  line 
of  movement,  and  the  differentiation 
.  of  the  1  imbs  is  so  effective  that,  apart 

from  the  treatment  of  form,  it  might 
well  ha^'e  been  expected  to  satisfy  even 
this  later  generation.    The  answer  is 
/  — "•  x#^JHV        gi^^en   by  the  Perseus  of  Benvenuto 

/    <^iPlj||'  P"  J^U/f        Cellini,  a  late  figure  (1550)  but  re- 
■    "^^^  latively   simply   in   composition,  and 

therefore  suitable  for  purposes  of  com- 
parison. Here  we  see  what  was  lack- 
ing in  the  David.  Not  only  are  the 
contrasts  of  the  limbs  accentuated, 
but  the  figure  is  no  longer  in  one 
plane,  it  extends  backwards  and  for- 
wards. This  change  may  be  looked 
upon  as  an  ominous  one,  portending 
the  coming  decay  of  plastic  art,  but  I 
use  the  example  because  it  is  character- 
istic of  the  tendency. 

Michelangelo  is  certainly  richer,  yet 
his  composition  is  compact  and  solid. 
His  endeavours  to  give  his  figures  more 
depth  have  been  sufficiently  explained 
by  the  comparison  of  his  Apollo  with 
the  panel-like  David.  The  turn  of  the 
statue,  from  the  feet  upwards,  gives 
ife  to  the  figure  in  all  dimensions, 
and  the  outstretched  arm  is  valuable 
not  merely  as  a  contrasting  horizontal  line,  but  possesses  a  space-value, 
since  it  marks  a  degree  on  the  scale  of  the  line  of  depth,  and  thus 
establishes  a  relation  between  back  and  front.  The  Christ  of  the  Minerva 
is  similarly  conceived,  and  the  Giovannino  of  Berlin  {vide  above,  note  on 
p.  53)  comes  into  the  same  category,  only  Michelangelo  would  not  have 
approved  the  breaking  up  of  the  mass  here.    Any  one  who  analyses  the 


mo,  by  Moutursuli. 


I 


THE   NEW   PICTORIAL  FORM 


26: 


movement  in  this  figure  may  pro- 
fitably refer  to  Michelangelo's 
Bacchus.  The  primitive  flatness 
and  simplicity  of  the  genuine  youth- 
ful work  of  the  artist  will  be  seen 
to  contrast  clearly  with  the  compli- 
cated movement  in  the  late  work 
of  an  imitator,  and  the  difference, 
not  of  two  individuals,  but  of  two 
generations,  will  be  brought  home 
to  the  unprejudiced  mind.^ 

The  St.  Cosmo  from  the  Medi- 
cean  sepulchral  chapel  may  be 
quoted  as  an  instance  of  a  Cinque- 
centist  seated  figure.  It  was 
modelled  by  Michelangelo  and  exe- 
cuted by  Montorsoli,  and  is  a  beau- 
tiful quiet  figure,  a  kind  of  tranquil- 
lised  Moses.  There  is  nothing 
striking  in  the  motive,  and  yet  it 
formulates  a  problem  which  was  in- 
accessible to  the  fifteenth  century. 
Let  us  by  way  of  comparison  review 
the  Quattrocentist  seated  figures  in 
the  Cathedral.  Not  one  of  these 
earlier  masters  has  even  attempted 
to  differentiate  the  lower  extremities 
bv  the  elevation  of  one  foot,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  bending  forward 
of  the  upper  part  of  the  body. 
The  head  here  once  more  shows  a 
new  direction,  and  the  arms,  not- 
withstanding the  tranquillity  and  unpretentiousness  of  the  gesture,  form 
a  most  eff'ective  contrast  in  the  composition. 


St.  John  the  Baptist,  by  J.  Sansovmo. 


^  The  elaborate  motive  of  raising  a  cup  to  the  mouth— a  simpler  rendering  would  have 
given  the  act  of  drinking— occurs  contemporaneously  in  painting.  Cf.  Bugiardini's 
Giovannino  in  the  Pinacothek  of  Bologna. 


^68  THE   ART   OP   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


Sitting  figures  have 
the  advantage  that  the 
form  is  compact  as  a 
mass,  and  therefore  the 
differences  in  axis  are 
vigorously  contrasted.  It 
is  easier  to  make  a  sit- 
ting figure  interesting 
than  a  standing  figure, 
and  it  is  not  surprising 
that  they  are  constantly 
recurring  in  the  sixteenth 
century.  The  type  of 
the  seated  youthful  St. 
John  almost  completely 
ousted  that  of  the  stand- 
ing figure,  both  in  sculp- 
ture and  painting.  The 
late  figure  by  J.  Sansovino 
from  the  Frari  in  Venice 

Madonna  with  eight  Saints,  by  Andrea  del  Sarto.  (1556)    is    very  exagger- 

ated, but  for  that  reason 
instructive,  as  it  betrays  the  pains  taken  to  secure  an  interesting  presentment. 

The  greatest  possibilities  of  concentrated  richness  are  presented  by 
recumbent  figures,  in  connection  with  which  a  mere  mention  of  the  Daif 
and  N'tght  in  the  ■Medici  Chapel  must  suffice.  Even  Titian  could  not 
resist  their  influence.  After  he  had  been  in  Florence,  the  full-length 
prostrate  figure  of  the  beautiful  nude  female,  as  it  had  been  painted  in 
Venice  since  Giorgione"'s  times,  seemed  far  too  simple  to  him.  He  sought 
for  stronger  contrasts  of  direction  in  the  limbs,  and  painted  his  Danac^  who, 
with  half-uplifted  body  and  the  one  knee  raised,  receives  the  golden  rain 
in  her  lap.  It  is  also  especially  instructive  to  notice  how  in  the  sequel — for 
this  picture  was  thrice  repeated  in  his  atelier — the  figure  becomes  more 
and  more  crouching  and  how  the  contrasts  (even  in  the  accompanying  figure), 
are  emphasised.^ 

1  The  order  of  the  pictures  can  be  exactly  determined.  The  picture  at  Naples  (1545) 
begins  the  series,  as  is  well  known,  then  come  the  Madrid  and  Petersburg  pictures  with 


269" 


Madonna  with  Angels  and  six  Saints,  by  Botticelli. 


We  have  hitherto  spoken  more  of  plastic  than  of  pictorial  examples. 
Not  that  painting  had  taken  a  different  course,  for  the  two  developments 
were  absolutely  parallel,  but  the  problems  of  perspective  at  once  obtrude 
themselves  in  sculpture,  since  here  the  same  movement  may  have  a  richer 
or  a  poorer  effect  according  to  the  point  of  view,  and  for  a  while  we  only 
had  to  deal  with  the  increase  of  objective  movement.  But  so  soon  as  we 
wish  to  show  this  objective  enrichment  in  a  group  of  several  figures,  paint- 
ing can  no  longer  be  left  in  the  background.  Sculpture,  it  is  true,  forms 
its  groups  too,  but  it  soon  reaches  its  natural  limits,  and  has  to  leave  the 
field  to  painting.  The  tangle  of  movement  which  Michelangelo  shows  us 
in  the  "tondo''  of  the  Madonna  of  the  Tribuna  has  no  plastic  analogies 

considerable  variations,  and  the  Danat  at  Vienna  contains  the  last  and  most  complete 
revision. 


•270 


THE   ART   OF   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


even  in  his  works,  and  Sansovino's  St.  Anne  in  S.  Agostino's  at  Rome 
(1512)  appears  very  meagre  by  the  side  of  Leonardo's  composition. 

It  is  surprising  that,  in  spite  of  all  the  vivacity  of  the  later  Quattro- 
cento, a  crowd  of  persons,  even  with  the  most  excitable  painters — I  have 
Filippino  in  my  mind — never  presents  a  rich  appearance.  There  is  much 
unrest  on  a  small  scale,  but  little  movement  on  a  large  scale.  There  is  a 
want  of  marked  divergences  of  direction.  Filippino  can  place  five  heads 
in  close  juxtaposition,  all  having  practically  the  same  inclination,  and  this, 
not  in  a  procession  but  in  a  group  of  women,  the  eve-witnesses  of  a 
miraculous  resuscitation  {Resuscitation  of  Drusiana^  S.  Maria  Novella). 
What  a  variety  of  axis  was  displayed  on  the  other  hand  in  the  group  of 
women  in  Raphael's  Heliodojiis — to  mention  but  one  example  ! 

When  Andrea  del  Sarto  brings  his  two  fair  Florentines  to  visit  the 
lying-in-room  (Annunziata)  he  gives  at  once  two  totally  distinct  contrasts  of 
direction,  and  the  result  is  that  with  two  figures  he  produces  an  impression 
of  greater  fulness  than  Ghirlandajo  with  a  whole  company. 

Sarto,  again,  depicting  saints  grouped  tranquilly  together  in  a  votive 
picture  in  which  all  the  figures  are  standing  (Madojina  delle  Arpie),  achieves 
a  richness  of  effect  which  a  painter  like  Botticelli  does  not  possess,  even 
where  he  alternates  the  positions,  and  inserts  a  central  seated  figure,  as  in 
the  Berlin  Madonna  with  the  two  Johns.  (See  pp.  171  and  274.)  It  is 
not  the  greater  or  less  amount  of  individual  movement  that  determines 
the  difference  ;  Sarto  wins  his  advantage  from  the  one  great  motive  of 
contrast,  which  consists  in  placing  the  side  figures  in  sharp  profile  against 
the  central  full  face  figure.^  But  how  greatly  the  richness  of  movement  in 
the  picture  is  increased  when  standing,  kneeling  and  sitting  figures  are 
combined,  and  the  distinctions  of  forward  or  backw^ard,  above  and  below, 
are  introduced,  as  in  Sarto's  Madonna  of  1524  (Pitti)  or  the  Madonna  of 
1528  at  Berlin,  pictures  which  have  their  Quattrocentist  counterpart  in 
that  great  composition  of  the  Si^  Saints  by  Botticelli,  where  the  six 
\  ertical  figures  stand  together  almost  completely  uniform  and  similar.'-^ 

^  We  may  quote  Leonardo,  Trattato  della  Pittura :  "I  repeat  that  direct  contrasts 
should  be  placed  near  each  other  and  commingled,  for  one  intensifies  the  effect  of  another, 
and  the  more  so  the  nearer  they  are,"  &c. 

2  Our  reproduction  shows  the  well-known  picture  with  the  omission  of  the  upper  fifth 
oi  it,  which  is  an  obvious  addition  of  a  later  date.  The  figures  thus  have  their  original 
effect,  for  a  hollow  empty  upper  space  is  quite  incompatible  with  the  Quattrocentist  require- 
ments as  to  an  equal  filling  of  spaces. 


THE   NEW   PICTORIAL  FORM 


271 


If,  finally,  we  think  of  the  varied  compositions  in  the  Camera  della 
Segnatura,  all  points  of  contact  with  the  Quattrocento  cease  in  the  presence 
of  this  contrapuntal  art.  We  recognise  that  the  eye,  which  had  obtained 
a  new  power  of  perception  must  have  required  ever  richer  complexities  of 
aspect  before  finding  a  picture  attractive. 

If  the  sixteenth  century  brings  ^\  ith  it  a  new  wealth  of  directions,  that 
change  is  connected  with  a  general  enlargement  of  space.  The  Quattro- 
cento remained  under  the  spell  of  the  flat  surface,  it  places  its  figures  close 
together  in  the  breadth  of  the  picture,  and  its  composition  takes  the  form 
of  stripes.  In  Ghirlandajo's  picture  of  the  lying-in  room  (see  illustration  on 
p.  226)  the  chief  figures  are  all  developed  on  one  plane  ;  the  women  with 
the  child,  the  visitors,  the  maid  with  the  priest,  all  stand  on  one  line 
parallel  with  the  margin  of  the  picture.  In  Andrea  del  Sarto's  com- 
position on  the  other  hand  (see  illustration  p.  159)  there  is  nothing  more 
of  the  sort.  W e  have  a  series  of  curves,  outward  and  inward  movement ; 
there  is  the  impression  that  the  space  has  become  instinct  with  life.  Now 
such  antitheses,  as  compositions  on  flat  surfaces  and  compositions  in  space 
must  be  understood  "  cum  grano  salis."'  Even  the  Quattrocentists  made 
frequent  attempts  to  secure  depth.  There  are  compositions  of  the  Adora- 
tion of  the  Kings  in  which  every  effort  is  made  to  remove  the  figures  from 
the  foremost  edge  of  the  stage  into  the  middle  distance  and  background,  but 
the  spectator  generally  loses  the  clue  which  was  intended  to  guide  him  into 
the  depth  of  the  picture,  in  other  words,  the  picture  is  broken  up  into 
distinct  sections.  The  significance  of  Raphael's  great  space  compositions 
in  the  Stanze  is  best  shown  by  Signorelli's  frescoes  at  Orvieto,  which  the 
traveller  usually  sees  just  before  his  entry  into  Rome.  Signorelli,  Avhose 
masses  of  figures  rise  before  us  like  a  wall,  and  who  is  only  able  to  show, 
so  to  say,  the  foreground  on  his  vast  surfaces,  and  Raphael,  who  from  the 
first  easily  brings  his  wealth  of  figures  out  from  the  depth  of  the  picture, 
seem  to  me  to  sum  up  the  contrasts  of  the  two  ages. 

We  may  go  still  further  and  say  that  all  conception  of  form  in  the 
fifteenth  century  is  superficial.  Not  merely  does  the  composition  fall  into 
stripes,  even  the  separate  figures  are  conceived  as  silhouettes.  These  words 
are  not  to  be  understood  in  their  literal  sense,  but  there  is  a  difference 
between  the  drawing  of  the  early  Renaissance  and  the  High  Renaissance 


272 


^\'hich  cannot  be  stated  in  any  other  way.  I  must  once  more  adduce  the 
example  of  Ghirlandajo's  Birth  of  St.  Jolm^  and  especially  the  figures  of  the 
seated  women.  Might  it  not  be  said  here  that  the  painter  has  flattened 
out  his  figures  upon  the  surface  Contrast  with  this  the  group  of  servants 
in  Sarto's  Birth  of  the  Virgin.  Here  the  painter  seeks  for  effect  by 
bringing  forward  or  thrusting  back  various  portions  of  the  composition  ; 
in  other  words,  the  eftbrbs  of  the  draughtsman  are  directed  to  effects  of 
perspective,  not  to  a  superficial  presentment.  As  another  example  take 
Botticelli's  Madonna  uith  two  Saints  (Berlin)  and  Andrea  del  Sarto's 
Madonna  delle  Arp'ie.  Why  is  the  St.  John  the  Evangelist  so  much 
richer  in  effect  in  the  latter.^  He  certainly  is  far  superior  in  move- 
ment, but  the  movement  is  so  represented  that  a  plastic  idea  is  at  once 
suggested  to  the  spectator,  who  is  impressed  by  the  salience  and 
resilience  of  the  form.  Apart  from  light  and  shade,  the  impression  of 
space  is  a  different  one,  because  the  vertical  plane  is  interrupted, 
and  the  panel-like  figure  is  replaced  by  a  body  with  three  dimensions,  in 
which  the  axis  of  depth,  namely  the  foreshortened  aspect,  is  ex- 
pressed on  an  extensive  scale.  Foreshortening  had  been  employed  before 
this,  and  the  Quattrocentists  had  toiled  at  this  problem  from  the  first,  but 
now  the  matter  was  so  thoroughly  settled  once  for  all  that  a  practically 
new  conception  may  be  said  to  ha\'e  been  formed.  In  the  picture  of 
Botticelli's  referred  to  (see  p.  274)  there  is  once  more  a  St.  John,  pointing 
with  his  finger,  the  typical  gesture  of  the  Baptist.  The  way  in  which  the 
arm  is  laid  flat  on  the  surface,  parallel  to  the  spectator,  is  characteristic  of 
the  whole  fifteenth  century,  and  is  found  as  often  in  the  preaching  as  in 
the  pointing  St.  John.  But  the  new  century  had  hardly  dawned  before 
attempts  were  being  made  on  every  side  to  get  rid  of  this  superficial  style, 
and,  within  the  limits  of  our  illustrations  a  comparison  of  the  preaching 
of  St.  John  in  the  pictures  of  Ghirlandajo  and  Sarto  will  sufficiently 
demonstrate  the  fact.  Foreshortening  was  reckoned  the  consummation 
of  draughtsmanship  in  the  sixteenth  century.  All  pictures  were  judged 
by  this  standard.  Albertinelli  was  at  last  so  wearied  of  the  e\'erlasting 
talk  about  "  scorzo,''  that  he  exchanged  his  easel  for  the  tavern-bar,  and  a 
Venetian  dilettante  like  Ludovico  Dolce  would  have  endorsed  his  view : 
"  Foreshortening  is  only  a  matter  for  connoisseurs,  why  should  one  take  so 
nuich  trouble  about  it  ^ 

^  Ludovico  Dolce,  iy'^7'e<mo. 


THE   NEW   PICTORIAL  FORM 


273 


This  may  have  been  the  general  view  in  Venice,  and  it  may  be  allowed 
that  Venetian  painting  certainly  had  means  enough  of  gratifying  the  eye, 
and  may  have  thought  it  superfluous  to  enquire  into  the  attractions  of 
Tuscan  masters.  But  in  the  Romano-Florentine  school  the  great  masters 
all  took  up  the  problem  of  the  third  dimension. 

Particular  motives,  such  as  the  arms  pointing  out  of  the  picture,  or  the 
drooping  full-face  seen  in  perspective,  appear  everywhere  almost  simultane- 
ously, and  it  would  not  be  uninteresting  to  enumerate  instances.  The 
matter  does  not  however  depend  on  individual  "  tours  de  force,'"  and 
astounding  "  scorzi,""  the  important  point  is  the  universal  change  in  the 
projection  of  material  objects  on  the  flat  surface,  and  the  education  of 
the  eye  to  the  representation  of  the  three  dimensions.  Andrea  del  Sarto 
consistently  attempted  to  modify  the  effect  of  the  silhouette  which  attached 
the  figure  to  the  surface  by  perpetual  intersections. 

3 

It  is  obvious  that  light  and  shade  were  destined  to  play  a  new  part  in 
the  domain  of  this  new  art.  The  tactile  effect,  it  would  naturally  be 
supposed,  was  to  be  more  directly  achie\'ed  by  modelling  than  by  fore- 
shortening. As  a  matter  of  fact,  efforts,  both  theoretical  and  practical, 
were  made  simultaneously  in  both  directions  even  by  Leonardo.  What 
Vasari  describes  as  his  ideal  as  a  youthful  artist :  "  dar  sommo  relievo  alle 
figure,"  remained  so  all  his  life.  Leonardo  began  with  dark  grounds, 
NN'hich  were  intended  to  set  off  the  figures,  a  very  different  matter  from  the 
plain  black  which  had  been  previously  employed  as  a  foil.  He  intensified 
the  depth  of  the  shadow  and  expressly  insisted  on  the  point  that  in  a 
picture  deep  shadows  should  appear  by  the  side  of  high  lights.  {Trattato 
della  Pittura.)  Even  an  artist  so  essentially  a  draughtsman  as  Michel- 
angelo underwent  this  phase  of  the  development,  and  an  increasing 
accentuation  of  the  shadows  can  be  clearly  traced  in  the  course  of  his  work 
on  the  Sistine  ceiling,  while  one  after  another  of  those  who  were  more  espe- 
cially painters  may  be  seen  trying  their  hands  at  dark  grounds  and  boldly 
salient  lights.  Raphael  in  his  Heliodorus  furnished  an  example,  in  com- 
parison with  which  not  merely  his  own  Disputa,  but  also  the  frescoes  of 
the  earlier  Florentines  must  have  all  seemed  flat ;  and  what  Quattrocentist 
altar-piece  would  not  have  suffered  by  being  hung  near  to  a  picture  of 

T 


1 


274  THE   ART   OP   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


Madonna  with  the  two  SS.  John,  by  Botticelli. 


Fra  Bartolommeo's,  with  its  mighty  plastic  life  ?  The  tactile  quality  of  his 
figures,  and  the  convincing  dignity  of  his  niches  with  their  great  shadowy 
recesses,  must  have  made  an  impression  at  that  time  which  we  can  with 
difficulty  realise  at  the  present  day. 

The  general  heightening  of  the  relief  naturally  involved  a  change  in  the 
frame  of  the  picture.  The  flat  Quattrocentist  frame  of  pilasters  with  a 
light  entablature  is  discarded,  and  in  its  place  we  get  a  kind  of  shrine  with 
half  or  three-quarter  pillars,  and  a  massive  roof.  The  fanciful  decorative 
treatrnent  of  such  objects  is  set  aside  in  favour  of  a  solemn  impressive  archi- 
tecture to  which  a  special  chapter  might  be  devoted.^ 

1  I  do  not  know  to  what  models  the  gabled  frames  are  to  be  referred,  which  were  made 
some  years  ago  for  two  well-known  pictures  in  the  Munich  Pinacothek  (Perugino  and 
Filippiho).    They  seem  to  me  rather  too  ponderous  and  architect(mic. 


THE   NEW   PICTORIAL  FORM 


275 


Light  and  shade  were  now  not  only  employed  in  the  service  of 
modelling,  but  were  very  soon  recognised  as  valuable  aids  to  the  enrichment 
of  the  representation.  AVhen  Leonardo  recjuires  that  a  dark  foil  should 
be  given  to  the  bright  side  of  the  body  and  x^ice  verm,  he  may  have  been 
thinking  solely  of  effects  by  relief,  but  as  a  rule  light  and  shade  are 
emploved  on  the  analogy  of  plastic  contraposition.  Michelangelo  himself 
yielded  to  the  charm  of  partial  shadow,  and  the  later  figures  of  the  Slaves 
on  the  ceiling  are  a  proof  of  this.  There  are  cases  in  which  the  complete 
half  of  a  body  is  im merged  in  shadow  and  this  motive  is  almost  enough  to 
replace  the  plastic  differentiation  of  the  body.  Franciabigio's  Venus  (see 
page  231)  and  the  youthful  St.  John  of  Andrea  del  Sarto  come  into  this 
category.  If  we  turn  from  single  figures  and  look  at  multiform  com- 
positions we  shall  see  more  clearly  how  indispensable  these  elements  are  for 
the  richer  art.  What  would  Andrea  del  Sarto  be  without  those  patches  of 
shadow  which  give  a  vibrating  effect  to  his  compositions,  and  how  greatly  does 
the  architectonic  Fra  Bartolonnneo  depend  upon  the  effect  of  picturesque 
masses  of  light  and  shade  !  Where  these  are  wanting,  as  in  the  sketch  of 
the  St.  Anne,  the  picture  seems  still  to  lack  the  breath  of  life.  I  will 
close  this  section  with  a  quotation  from  Leonardo's  Trattato  della  PHUira. 
In  the  works  of  one  who  paints  for  an  uncritical  public,  he  says  incidentally, 
little  movement,  relief  or  foreshortening  will  be  found.  In  other  words, 
the  artistic  value  of  a  picture,  according  to  him,  depends  on  the  extent  to 
which  the  author  is  able  to  soh  e  the  problems  enumerated.  Mo^'ement, 
foreshortening,  and  plastic  effect  are  precisely  the  elements  which  we  tried 
to  explain  in  their  significance  for  the  new  style,  and  thus  if  we  do  not 
continue  the  analysis  further,  I^eonardo  may  be  held  responsible. 


4.    UxrrY  axd  Inevitability 


The  idea  of  "  Composition was  not  new  and  had  been  discussed  even 
in  the  fifteenth  century,  but  in  its  strict  sense  of  co-ordination  of  parts,  to 
be  seen  as  a  whole,  it  is  not  found  before  the  sixteenth  century,  and  what 
was  considered  a  composition  before  this  appeared  as  a  mere  aggregation 
without  any  real  form.  The  Cinquecento  not  only  conceived  a  vaster 
scheme  of  cohesion,  and  understood  the  position  of  the  part  within  the 
whole,  whereas  formerly  one  detail  after  another  was  regarded  with  close 
and  separate  attention ;  it  developed  a  union  of  the  parts,  an  inevitability 

T  2 


276  THE   ART   OP   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


of  arrangement,  in  comparison  with  which  all  Quattrocentist  work  has  an 
incoherent  and  arbitrary  effect. 

The  meaning  of  this  may  be  made  clear  by  a  single  example.  Let  the 
reader  compare  the  composition  of  Leonardo's  Last  Supper  and  of 
Ghirlandajo's.  In  the  former,  one  central  figure,  dominating  and  bringing 
all  the  component  parts  together  ;  a  company  of  men,  to  each  of  whom  a 
definite  role  is  assigned  within  the  general  movement  of  the  picture ;  a 
building  no  stone  of  which  could  be  removed  without  destroying  the 
equilibrium  of  the  whole.  In  the  latter,  a  quantity  of  figures,  closely 
packed  together  regardless  of  sequence  or  necessary  numerical  limitation. 
These  might  have  been  more  or  fewer,  and  if  each  one  of  them  had  been 
depicted  in  a  different  attitude,  the  look  of  the  pieture  would  not  have 
been  essentially  changed. 

-  Symmetrical  grouping  had  always  been  observed  in  sacred  pictures, 
and  there  are  pictures  of  profane  subjects,  like  Botticelli's  Springs  which 
carry  out  the  principle  that  there  should  be  a  central  figure  and  that  the 
two  sides  should  be  equally  balanced.  The  sixteenth  century,  however, 
could  not  rest  satisfied  with  this.  The  central  figure  was  after  all  only 
one  among  the  others,  the  whole  was  a  combination  of  parts  in  which 
each  had  almost  the  same  value.  Instead  of  a  chain  of  similar  links,  a 
structure  was  now  required  with  a  distinct  system  of  super-  and  sub- 
ordination.   Subordination  took  the  place  of  co-ordination. 

I  will  take  one  of  the  simplest  instances,  the  sacred  picture  with  three 
figures.  In  Botticelli's  picture  at  Berlin  (see  illustration  on  p.  274)  there 
are  three  persons  close  together,  each  an  independent  figure,  and  the  three 
similar  niches  in  the  background  emphasise  the  idea  that  the  picture  could 
be  cut  up  into  three  parts.  This  idea  never  presents  itself  in  connection 
with  the  classical  version  of  the  theme,  as  we  see  it  in  Andrea  del  Sarto's 
Madonna  of  1517  (see  illustration  on  p.  171).  The  secondary  figures  are 
still  indeed  limbs  which  would  have  a  certain  importance  by  themselves, 
but  the  commanding  position  of  the  central  figure  is  evident  and  the  con- 
nection seems  insoluble.  The  transformation  to  the  new  style  was  more 
difficult  in  historical  pictures  than  in  these  sacred  pictures,  for  the  basis  of 
a  central  scheme  had  to  be  nivented  here.  The  later  Quattrocentists  made 
frequent  attempts,  and  Ghirlandajo  in  the  frescoes  of  S.  Maria  Novella 
shows  himself  one  of  the  most  assiduous  in  this  direction.  It  is  notice- 
able that  he  is  no  longer  content  with  the  mere  fortuitous  juxtaposition 


i 


277 


of  figures.  In  places  at  least  he  has  devoted  himself  with  all  seriousness  to 
architectonic  composition. 

Nevertheless  Andrea  surprises  the  spectator  by  his  frescoes  of  the  life  of 
the  Baptist  in  the  Scalzo.  Eager  to  avoid  the  incidental  at  any  cost,  and 
to  obtain  the  impression  of  inevitability,  he  made  most  unpromising 
motives  subject  to  the  central  scheme.  His  example  was  universally 
followed.  The  rules  of  arrangement  forced  their  way  into  the  wild  and 
crowded  scenes  of  the  Massacre  of  the  Innocents  (Daniele  da  Vol  terra, 
Uffizi),  and  even  stories  like  the  Calumny  of  Apelles,  which  so  evidently 
require  an  oblong  field,  are  worked  up  round  a  central  motive,  to  the 
detriment  of  their  clarity.  Franciabigio  on  a  small  scale  (Pitti),  and 
Girolami  Genga  on  a  large  scale  (Pesaro,  Villa  Imperiale)  supply  instances.^ 

This  is  not  the  place  to  describe  in  detail  how  far  the  rule  was  again 
relaxed,  and  how  the  laws  of  representation  were  modified  to  permit  of  a 
more  vivid  impression.  The  Vatican  frescoes  contain  well-known  examples 
of  broken  synnnetry  in  the  midst  of  a  style  which  remains  purely  tectonic. 
It  nuist  however  be  emphatically  said  that  no  one  could  make  proper  use 
of  this  freedom  who  had  not  been  accustomed  to  compose  on  the  strictest 
system.  The  partial  relaxation  of  form  could  only  be  eflecti\'e  on  the 
basis  of  a  firmly  fixed  idea  of  form. 

The  same  holds  good  of  the  composition  of  the  single  group,  in  which, 
since  Leonardo,  an  analogous  striving  after  tectonic  configurations  can  be 
traced.  The  Madonna  among  the  Rocks  maybe  contained  in  an  ecjuilateral 
triangle,  and  this  geometrical  property,  which  is  at  once  \'isible  to  the 
•spectator,  differentiates  the  work  marvellously  from  all  other  pictures  of  the 
time.  Artists  felt  the  benefit  of  a  compact  arrangement,  where  the  group 
appears  inevitable  as  a  whole,  though  no  single  figure  has  suffered  any  loss 
of  free  movement.  Perugino  followed  on  the  same  lines  with  his  Pieta  of 
1495,  to  which  no  analogy  could  have  been  found  either  with  Filippino  or 
Ghirlandajo.  Raphael  finally,  in  his  Florentine  Madon?ia  pictures,  devel- 
oped into  the  subtlest  of  master-builders.  But  here  again  the  change 
from  regularity  to  apparent  irregularity  was  irresistible.    The  equilateral 

^  This  is  a  suitable  occasion  to  mention  a  motive  of  perspective.  The  later  Quattro- 
cento attempted  sometimes  to  produce  an  attractive  effect  by  placing  the  vanishing  point 
of  the  lines  at  the  side,  not  outside  the  picture,  but  yet  towards  the  edge.  This  is  seen  in 
Filippino's  Corsini  Madonna  (see  illustration,  p.  216  )  and  in  Ghirlandajo's  fresco  of  the 
Visitation.    Such  divagations  offended  classical  feeling. 


278 


The  Death  of  Peter  Martyr,  by  Gentile  Bellini  (V). 


triangle  became  a  scalene  triangle,  and  the  system  of  symmetrical  axes 
was  shifted,  but  the  kernel  of  the  effect  remained  the  same,  and  the 
impression  of  inevitability  would  be  ivept  up  even  in  an  entirely  non-tectonic 
group.    Thus  we  are  led  up  to  the  great  composition  of  the  free  style. 

We  find  with  Raphael  just  as  with  Sarto  a  freely  rhythmic  composition 
combined  with  the  tectonic  scheme.  In  the  court  of  the  Annunziata  the 
picture  of  the  Birth  of  the  Virgin  comes  next  to  the  severe  rendering  of 
miraculous  scenes,  and  in  the  tapestries  we  find  an  Anatiias'  immediately 
beside  the  Miraadous  Dranglit  of  F'l.shcs  or  the  CalVuig  of  Peter.  These 
are  not  antiquated  motives  which  are  merely  tolerated.  This  free  style  is 
distinct  from  the  former  irregularity,  where  one  thing  might  just  as  well 
have  been  another.  Some  such  emphatic  expression  is  needed  to  accen- 
tuate the  contrast.  The  fifteenth  century  can  in  fact  show  nothing  which 
even  approximately  possesses  that  character  of  absolute  rightness  and 
inevitability  which  we  find  in  the  group  of  llaphaeFs  Mlraeulous  Draught 
of  Fishes.  The  figures  are  not  bound  together  by  any  architecture,  and 
yet  they  form  a  perfectly  compact  structure.    Similarly — although  in  a 


THE    NEW   PICTORIAL  FORM 


279 


somewhat  less  degree — in 
Sarto's  Birth  erf' the  Virgin 
the  figures  are  brought 
into  one  hne,  and  the 
whole  line  has  a  convinc- 
ingly harmonious  inevita- 
bilitv.  To  make  the  case 
(|uite  clear  I  venture  to 
illustrate  it  bv  an  in- 
stance from  Venetian  art 
as  here  the  conditions 
are  especiallv  favourable 
for  obser^'ation.  I  refer 
to  The  Murder  of  Peter 
Martijr  in  the  National 
Gallery,  London,  as 
painted  by  a  Quattro- 
centist,^  and  as,  on  the 
other  hand,  it  was  re- 
duced to  classical  form 
by  Titian  in  the  burnt 
picture  in  the  Church  of 
S.  Gio\'anni  e  Paolo. 

The  Quattrocentist 
spells  out  the  elements  of 
the  story.  There  is  a 
wood,  and  the  persons  at- 
tacked, namely,  the  saint 
and  his  companion ;  the 

one  flees  this  wav,  the  other  that.  The  one  is  stabbed  to  the  right,  the 
other  to  the  left.  Titian  starts  with  the  idea  that  two  analogous  scenes 
cannot  be  depicted  in  close  proximity.  The  death  of  Peter  is  the  chief 
motive,  with  which  nothing  must  compete.  He  accordingly  leaves  the 
second  murderer  out,  and  treats  the  attendant  friar  only  as  a  fugitive.  At 
the  same  time  he  subordinates  him  to  the  main  motive ;  he  is  included  in 


The  Death  of  Peter  Martyr,  by  Titian. 


1  The  ascription  of  the  picture  to  Giovanni  Bellini  now  appears  to  be  universally 
abandoned.    Berenson  attributes  it  to  Gentile  Bellini.    {Venetian  Painters.  1894.) 


280 


THE   ART   OP   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


the  same  connected  move- 
ment, and  by  continuing 
the   direction  intensifies 
the  fury  of  the  onslaught. 
As  if  he  were  a  fragment 
bounding  off  from  the 
main  group  at  the  shock, 
he  hurls  himself  forward 
in  the  direction  towards 
which  the  saint  has  fallen. 
Thus  a  distracting  and 
inharmonious  element  has 
become  an  indispensable 
factor  in  the  effect.  If 
we  use  philosophic  terms 
to  describe  the  process, 
we  may  say  that  develop- 
ment  here    implies  in- 
tegration and  differentia- 
tion.    Each    motive  is 
only  to  appear  once,  the 
antiquated  equivalence  of 
the  parts  is  to  be  replaced 
by  absolute  distinction, 
and  at  the  same  time  the 
differentiated  elements 
must  combine  into  a  whole,  where  no  part  could  be  omitted  Avithout  the 
collapse  of  the  whole  structure.    This  system  of  classical  art  had  been 
anticipated  by  L.  B.  Alberti,  when  in  an  often  quoted  passage  he  defined 
perfection  as  a  condition  in  which  the  smallest  part  could  not  be  (changed 
without  marring  the  beauty  of  the  whole.    Here  we  have  a  visible  proof 
of  what  he  puts  forward  as  a  theory. 

The  treatment  of  the  trees  may  teach  us  how  in  such  a  composition 
Titian  employed  all  accessories  to  heighten  the  main  effect.  Whereas  in 
the  older  picture  the  forest  seemed  a  thing  apart,  Titian  made  the  trees 
share  in  the  movement ;  they  take  part  in  the  action,  and  thus  lend 
grandeur  and  spirit  to  the  incident  in  a  novel  way. 


St.  Jerome,  by  Basaiti. 


THE   NEW   PICTORIAL  FORM 


281 


When,  in  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, Domenichino,  closely  following 
Titian,  retold  the  story  in  a  well 
known  picture  now  in  the  Gallery 
at  Bologna,  the  feeling  for  all  this 
artistic  wisdom  had  become  blunted. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  state  that 
the  employment  of  a  landscape- 
background  harmonising  with  the 
action  of  the  figures,  was  as  familiar 
in  Cinquecentist  Rome  as  in  Venice. 
The  importance  of  the  landscape  in 
HaphaeFs  Mimcidom  Draught  has 
already  been  discussed.  The  next 
tapestry,  the  Charge  to  Peter,  pre- 
sents the  same  spectacle  :  the  sunnnit 
of  the  long  line  of  hills  exactly 
coincides  Avith  the  c^iesura  of  the 
group,  and  thus  quietly  yet  em- 
phatically helps  to  make  the  disciples 
appear  a  distinct  group  as  contrasted 
with  the  figure  of  Christ  (cf.  the 

illustration    on    p.  115).       But    if    I  St.  Jerome,  by  Titian. 

may  again   appeal  to    a  Venetian 

example,  Basaiti's  St.  Jerome  (London),  when  compared  with  Titian's 
corresponding  figure  (in  the  Brera),  may  represent  with  all  desirable  clear- 
ness the  different  way  in  which  the  two  ages  understood  the  subject.  In 
the  former  picture  there  is  a  landscape  which  is  intended  to  have  some 
meaning  by  itself,  and  into  which  the  saint  is  inserted,  a\  ithout  any  sort  of 
necessary  connection.  In  the  latter,  the  figure  and  the  line  of  the  moun- 
tain have  been  imagined  together  from  the  first  inception  :  there  is  an 
abrupt  wooded  slope,  which  powerfully  assists  the  upA\ard  action  in  the 
form  of  the  recluse,  and  absolutely  forces  him  heavenwards.  The  landscape 
is  as  well  adapted  to  this  particular  figure  as  the  other  was  inappropriate. 

Similarly,  the  architectural  backgrounds  were  no  longer  regarded  as  an 
arbitrary  embellishment  of  the  picture,  on  the  principle  of  "  the  more  the 
better,'"  but  the  necessary  fitness  of  such  adjuncts  Avas  considered.  There 


282  THE    ART   OF    THE    ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


had  always  been  a  feeling  that  the  dignity  of  human  forms  could  be  in- 
creased by  architectural  surroundings,  but  usually  the  buildings  over- 
whelmed the  figures.  Ghirlandajo's  gorgeous  architecture  was  far  too 
rich  to  set  off  his  figures  favourably,  and  where  it  was  simply  a  question 
of  a  figure  in  a  niche,  it  is  astonishing  to  see  how  little  the  Quattrocentists 
attempted  effective  combinations.  Filippo  Lippi  carried  his  principle  of 
isolated  treatment  so  far  that  his  sitting  saints  in  the  Academy  do  not  even 
correspond  to  the  niches  of  the  wall  behind  them,  an  exhibition  of  casual 
treatment  which  must  have  seemed  intolerable  to  the  Cinquecento.  He 
evidently  aimed  at  the  charm  of  vivacity  rather  than  at  dignity.  The 
Risen  Christ  in  the  Pitti  Palace  shows  how  Fra  Bartolommeo  was  able  to 
give  his  heroes  grandeur  in  a  very  different  wav,  by  intersecting  the  top 
of  the  niche.  It  would  be  superfluous  to  refer  to  all  the  other  examples 
of  Cinquecentist  employment  of  architecture,  in  cases  where  the  architecture 
seems  an  imposing  expression  of  the  actual  persons  represented. 

While  dealing  with,  the  universal  wish  to  correlate  the  parts  of  the 
whole  composition,  we  meet  with  a  point  of  classical  taste  which  invites 
criticism  of  the  earlier  art  in  general,  and  carries  us  far  beyond  the 
domain  of  mere  painting.  \  asari  records  a  characteristic  incident :  the 
architect  of  the  anteroom  to  the  sacristy  of  S.  Spirito  in  Florence 
was  blamed  because  the  lines  of  the  compartments  of  the  vaulted  roof 
did  not  coincide  with  the  axis  of  the  pillars.^  This  criticism  might  have 
been  applied  to  a  hundred  other  places.  The  deficiency  of  continuous 
lines,  and  the  treatment  of  each  part  by  itself  without  regard  to  the  unity 
of  the  total  effect,  were  among  the  most  striking  peculiarities  of  Quattro- 
centist  art. 

From  the  moment  when  architecture  shook  off  the  playful  irresponsi- 
bilitv  of  vouth  and  became  mature,  sedate,  and  stern,  it  took  the  command  of 
all  the  other  arts.  The  Cinquecento  conceived  everything  "  sub  specie 
architectur^e.''  The  plastic  figures  on  tombs  had  their  appropriate  place 
assigned  to  them  ;  thev  were  enframed,  enclosed,  and  pillowed.  Nothing 
could  be  shifted  or  changed,  even  in  thought.  It  is  evident  at  once  why 
each  piece  was  there  and  not  a  little  higher  up  or  lower  down.  I  may 
refer  to  the  discussion  of  Rossellino  and  Sansovino  on  pp.  73,  74.  Painting 
underwent  a  similar  process.    When  as  fresco-painting  it  came  into  relation 

^  Vasari  IV.  513  (  V^ita  di  A.  Coutiicci),  where  also  the  excuses  made  by  the  architect 
may  be  ead  with  interest. 


THE   NEW   PICTORIAL  FORM 


283- 


with  architecture,  the  latter  always  had  the  upper  hand.  Yet  what 
marvellous  liberties  Filippino  takes  in  the  frescoes  of  S.  Maria  Novella  ! 
He  extends  the  floor  of  his  stage  so  that  the  figures  stand  partly  in  front  of 
the  line  of  the  ^^'all,  and  then  are  brought  into  a  remarkable  relation  with  tht^ 
real  architectural  portions  of  the  framework.  This  had  also  been  done  by 
Signorelli  at  Orvieto.  Sculpture  shows  an  analogous  case  in  Verrocchio's 
St.  Thomas  group,  where  the  action  is  not  confined  to  the  inside  of  the 
niche,  but  takes  place  partly  outside.  No  Cinquecentist  would  have  done 
this.  With  him  it  was  an  obvious  assumption  that  painting  must  produce 
the  illusion  of  a  space  in  the  depth  of  the  wall,  and  that  its  enframement 
must  suggest  the  entrance  to  its  stage.  ^ 

Architecture,  which  had  now  become  homogeneous,  demanded  a  like 
unity  in  frescoes.  Leonardo  had  held  that  it  was  not  permissible  to  paint 
picture  above  picture  as  in  the  choir-paintings  of  Ghirlandajo,  where  we 
look  as  it  were  into  the  different  storeys  of  a  house  all  at  once.^  He 
would  hardly  have  sanctioned  the  painting  of  two  pictures  close  together 
on  the  wall  of  a  choir  or  a  chapel,  while  the  path  which  Ghirlandajo  struck 
out  in  the  adjoining  pictures  of  the  Visitation  and  the  Rejection  of  Joachim  s 
Sacrifice  would  have  seemed  preposterous.  He  carried  the  scenery  behind 
the  dividing  pilaster,  and  each  picture  has  its  own  perspective,  which  is 
not  even  similar  to  that  of  the  neighbouring  composition. 

The  tendency  to  paint  uniform  surfaces  uniformly  became  prevalent  in 
the  sixteenth  centurv,  but  now  a  more  advanced  problem  was  taken  up,  the 
problem  of  harmonising  the  interior  and  the  covering  of  the  wall,  so  that 
the  spaciously  conceived  picture  seemed  to  have  been  created  for  the  hall 
or  chapel  where  it  was,  the  one  explaining  the  other.  When  this  result 
is  attained,  there  is  a  sort  of  melody  of  space,  an  impression  of  harmonv,. 
which  must  be  included  among  the  highest  achievements  attainable  by- 
pictorial  art. 

We  have  already  said  how  little  the  fifteenth  centurv  understood  unity 
of  treatment  in  an  interior,  and  how  indifferent  it  was  to  the  effect  of  each 
detail  in  its  place.    The  observation  may  be  extended  to  larger  spaces,, 

1  Though  Masaccio  had  established  very  clear  ideas  on  the  subject,  in  the  course  of 
the  century  they  had  again  become  so  confused  that  frescoes  are  found  which  meet  in 
angles  without  any  borders  between  them.  It  would  be  interesting  to  follow  out 
connectedly  the  architectural  treatment  of  frescoes. 

-  Trattato  dtUa  Pittara. 


I 


284  THE3   ART   OP   THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


such  as  public  squares.  We  might  instance  the  great  equestrian  figures 
of  CoUeoni  and  Gattemelata,  and  ask  whether  anyone  at  the  present  day 
would  venture  to  erect  them  so  entirely  independently  of  the  chief  axis 
of  the  square  or  the  church.  Modern  opinion  is  represented  in  Giovanni 
da  Bologna's  mounted  princes  at  Florence,  but  in  such  a  way  that  much 
still  remains  for  us  to  learn.  Finally,  the  homogeneous  conception  of 
space  makes  itself  most  widely  felt  in  cases  where  architecture  and  land- 
scape are  included  in  one  point  of  view.  We  might  call  to  mind  the 
grounds  of  villas  and  public  gardens,  the  selection  of  wide  prospects  for 
points  of  view,  Sec.  The  Baroque  period  reckoned  with  these  effects  on 
a  larger  scale,  but  anyone  ^v\lo  has  looked  from  the  high  terrace  of  the 
magnificent  and  incomparably  situated  Villa  Imperiale  at  Pesaro  towards 
the  hills  over  Urbino,  where  the  whole  country  is  subordinated  to  the 
castle,  will  have  received  an  impression  of  the  majestic  ordination  of  the 
High  Renaissance,  which  could  hardly  be  surpassed  by  the  most  colossal 
.achievements  of  later  times. 

There  is  a  conception  of  the  history  of  Art,  which  sees  in  Art  merely  a 
"translation  of  life''  into  pictorial  language,  and  tries  to  make  every  style 
•comprehensible  as  an  expression  of  the  prevalent  spirit  of  the  time. 
Would  any  one  denv  that  this  is  a  profitable  way  of  looking  at  the 
(juestion  ?  Yet  it  only  leads  to  a  certain  fixed  point,  one  might  almost 
say  only  as  far  as  the  point  where  art  begins.  Anyone  who  restricts 
himself  to  the  subject-matter  in  works  of  art  will  be  satisfied  with  it,  but 
as  soon  as  he  wishes  to  estimate  things  by  artistic  standards,  he  is  compelled 
to  deal  with  formal  elements  which  are  in  themselves  inexpressive,  and 
belong  to  a  development  of  a  purely  optical  kind. 

Quattrocento  and  Cinquecento  as  terms  for  a  style  cannot  be  explained 
by  material  characteristics.  The  phenomenon  has  a  double  root,  and  points 
to  a  development  of  the  artistic  vision  which  is  essentially  independent  of 
any  particular  feeling  or  particular  ideal  of  beauty. 

The  imposing  gestures  of  the  Cinquecento,  its  dignified  attitudes,  and 
its  spacious  and  powerful  beauty  characterise  the  spirit  of  the  generation 
of  that  day.  At  the  same  time,  everything  that  we  have  said  as  to  the 
increased  clarity  of  pictorial  representation,  and  the  desire  of  the  cultured 
eve  for  richer  and  more  suggestive  aspects,  until  a  multiplicity  of  effects 
can  be  visualised  as  a  collected  whole,  and  the  details  comprehended  as 


2S5 


parts  of  an  inevitable  unity,  constitute  formal  elements,  which  cannot  be 
inferred  from  the  spirit  of  the  age. 

The  classical  character  of  Cinquecentist  art  rests  on  these  formal 
elements.  We  have  to  deal  with  recurring  phases  of  development  and 
continuous  forms  of  art.  The  merits  which  placed  Raphael  at  the  head 
of  the  older  generation  were  the  same  as  those  which  made  Ruysdael, 
under  very  different  conditions,  a  classicist  among  the  Dutch  landscape 
painters. 

By  saying  this  we  do  not  wish  to  advocate  a  formalistic  view  of  art.. 
Even  the  diamond  requires  light  to  make  it  sparkle. 


Holy  Family,  by  Bronziiio. 


INDEX  OF  PROPER  NAMES 


A. 

Albertinelli,  Mariotto  (1474-1515):  "The 
Annunciation,"  ill.,  155;  "The  Cruci- 
fixion," 154;  "The  Holy  Family,"  ill., 
154;  "Madonna  with  two  kneeling 
Saints,"  ///.,  135-6;  "The  Visitation," 
153-4. 

Allegri,  Antonio  da  Correggio  (1494-1534), 
16. 

Anierighi,  Michelangelo  (1569-1609),  240. 
Ammannati,      Bartolommeo  (1511-1592), 

"Neptune,"  196. 
Andrea  del  Sarto,  sec  Sarto,  Andrea  del. 
Angelico,  Fra  Giovanni  (1387-1455),  250. 
Antonio,  Marc,  23,  34,  246,  142. 


B. 

Baroccio,  Federigo  (1528-1612) :  "Institution 
of  the  Lord's  Supper,"  34;  "Madonna  del 
Popolo,"  150-1. 

Bartolommeo,  Fra  (1475-1517)  :  "The  An- 
nunciation," 155-6;  "The  Baptism  of 
Christ,"  203;  "God  Almighty,"  136, 
145-6;  "The  Last  Judgment,"  144-5; 
"Madonna,"  149;  "Madonna  della 
Misericordia,"  150-1;  "Madonna  with 
Saints,"  ill.,  149;  "The  Marriage  of  St. 
Catherine,"  147-3;  "Patron  Saints  of 
Florence,"  147  ;  "Pieta,"  ill.,  151-2,  253, 
255  ;  "  The  Risen  Christ  with  Four  Evan- 
gelists," ill.,  90,  143-4,  151,  282;  "St. 
Sebastian,"  143-4;  "Virgin  appearing  to 
St.  Bernard,"  ill,  145,  217. 

Basaiti,  Marco  {c.  1503-c.  1521),"  St.  Jerome," 
ill.,  281. 

Bellini  :  Gentile  (r.  1426-1507),  "  The  Death 
of  Peter  Martyr,"  ill.,  279  ;  Giovanni  {a. 
1428-1516),  "The  Transfiguration,"  ill., 
137. 

Beltrafho,  Giovanni  Antonio  (1467-1516)  : 
"La  Belle  Ferroniere,"  40;  "Madonna 
with  the  Child,"  40  ;  "  The  Risen  Lord," 
40. 


Benedetto  da  Majano  :  "Angel  bearing 
Candelabrum,"  ill.,  15;  "Madonna  and 
Child,"  ill.,  50  ;  "  St.  John,"  227,  238. 

Bigio,  Francia  (1482-1525):  "Blessing  of 
St.  John,"  1518,  168;  "Portrait  of  a 
Young  Man,"  ill.,  181;  "  Sposalizio " 
(Annunziata),  162  ;  "Venus,"  ^7/.,  232,  275. 

Bondone,  Giotto  di,  see  Giotto. 

Botticelli,  Sandro,  -see  Filipepi. 

Bronzino,  Angelo  (1502-1572):  "An  Alle- 
gory," 103;  "Christ  in  Limbo."  196; 
"Holy  Family,"  ill,  285. 

Bugiardini  :  "Betrothal  of  St.  Catherine," 
214  ;  "  Madonna  del  latte,"  214. 

Buonarroti,  Michelangelo  (1475-1564)  : 
"Apollo,"  ill,  56,  266  ;  "Bacchus,"  1498. 
53-4,227,  267;  "Bathing  Soldiers,"  ill.', 
56,  61,  78,  160  ;  "  The  Battle  of  the  Cen- 
taurs," 56  ;  "Christ,"  ill,  192,  266  ;  "  The 
Conversion  of  St.  Paul,"  194-5;  "The 
Creation  of  Adam,"  71  ;  "  The  Creation 
of  Eve,"  62-3,  71  ;  "  Crouching  Boy,"  ill. 
91;  "Crucifixion  of  St.  Peter,"  "l94-5  ; 
"David,"?//.,  53-6,  78;  "The  Drunken 
ness  of  Noah,"  61,  71;  "Dying  Slaves,'" 
72  ;  "  The  Expulsion,"  61-2  ;  "  The  Fall," 
61-2  ;  "  Figures  of  Slaves,"  ill ,  66  ;  "  The 
Flood,"  61,  71  ;  "  Giovannino,"  53,  266  ; 
"Giovanni  delle  Bande  Neri,"  190; 
"  Holv  Family,"  ill,  52,  85,  221,  256,  259, 
269-70  ;  "Judith,"  64  ;  "  The  Last  Judg- 
ment," 59,  185,  194  ;  "  Light  and 
Darkness,"  64;  "  Madonna,"  269  ;  "Ma- 
donna with  a  Book,"  50,  248;  "Madonna 
of  Bruges,"  ill,  48-50,  53,  191;  "The 
Madonna  of  the  Medici,"  ill,  191  ;  "  The 
Madonna  on  the  Steps,"  51  ;  "Pieta"  : 
Cathedral,  Florence,  53, 193-4  ;  St.  Peter^s, 
Rome,  ill,  47-9,  53,  76,  84,  206,  218  ; 
"The  Prophets  and  Sibyls,"  ///.,  64-7; 
"  The  Sacrifice  of  Noah,"^"  61,  71  ;  "  St. 
Matthew,"  56,  76  ;  Ceiling  of  the  Sistine 
Chapel,  58-72,  252  ;  "  The  Slaves,"  67-71  ; 
"The  Tomb  of  Julius  II,"  72-7;  "The 
Tombs  of  the  Medici,"  ill,  185-190,  268  ; 
"  Victory,"  193  ;  "  Vittoria  Colonna,"  ill, 
234. 


■288 


INDEX   OP   PROPER  NAMES 


C. 

Caravaggio,  see  Amerighi,  Michelangelo. 
Carpaccio,  Vittore   (c.  1450 — after  1522), 

"  The  Presentation  in  the  Teniple,"  254. 
Carracci,  L.,  "  The  Transfiguration,"  141. 
Cellini,  Benvenuto,  "  Perseus,"  1550,  ill., 

231,  266. 
■Correggio,  aee  Allegri,  Antonio. 
Cosinio,  Piero  di,  .see  Piero  di  Cosimo. 
•Credi,  Lorenzo  di  (1459-1537):  "Venus," 

ill.,  212,  232  ;  "  Verrocchio,"  249. 


D. 

Desiderio  da  Settignano  (1428-1464)  :  "Bust 
of  a  Florentine  Girl,"  ill.,  35  ;  "  Tomb  of 
Marsuppini,"  209,  237. 

Domenichino,  see  Zampieri,  Domenico. 

Donatello  (1386-1466):  Bronze  door  of  San 
Lorenzo,  Florence,  97  ;  "David,"  ill,  11, 
12,  54,  224,  266  ;  "  Gattemelata,"  13,  284  ; 
"Miracles  of  St.  Anthony,"  11;  "St. 
John,"  11. 

F. 

Fiesole,  Mino  da,  see  Mino  da  Fiesole. 

Filipepi,  Sandro  (1446-1510)  (Sandro  Bot- 
ticelli) :  "  Adoration  of  the  Kings,"  19,  23, 
262;  "Allegory  of  Spring,"  ill.,  19,244, 
236,  276;  "Birth  of  Venus,"  243; 
"Calumny  of  Apelles,"  243,  277  ;  "  Exodus 
of  the  Jews  from  Egypt,"  209  ;  "  Madonna 
with  Angels  and  Six  Saints,"  ill.,  269  ; 
"  Madonna  with  the  two  SS.  John,"  ill., 
27-2,  276  ;  "  Pieta,"  249  ;  "  The  Rebellion 
of  Korah,"  210;  "Venus  on  the  Shell," 
223,  243. 

Francesca,  Piero  della  (1415-1492),  "The 
Annunciation,"  206 


G. 

Ghirlandajo,  Domenico  del  (1449-1490)  : 
"  The  Adoration  of  the  Kings,"  23,  271  ; 
"  The  Adoration  of  the  Shepherds,"  1485, 
211;  "Attendant  carrying  Fruit,"  ill., 
228  ;  "Birth  of  St.  John,"  ill.,  236,  272  ; 
"Birth  of  the  Virgin,"  21;  Frescoes, 
16,21,  276;  "The  Last  Supper,"  1480, 
?Y/.,  29-34,  207,  276  ;  "  Madonna  in  Glory," 
133-4;  "The  Marriage  of  the  Virgin," 
20-1;  "The  Preaching  of  John  the 
Baptist,"  163-165  ;  "  The  Presentation  of 
Mary  in  the  Temple,"  20,  221  ;  "  Rejection 


of  Joachim's  Sacrifice,"  262,  283;  "The 

Visitation"  :  Louvre,  1491,  153,  219-220, 

262  ;  Santa  Maria  Novella,  Florence,  283  ; 

"Zacharias  in  the  Temple,"  221. 
Gianpietrino,  "  Abundantia,"  45. 
Giotto  di  Bondone  (1266-1336) :  Frescoes,  8, 

10;    "Presentation    of    Mary     in  the 

Temple,"  20. 
Giovanni  da  Udine,  240. 
Gozzoli,     Benozzo      (1420-1498)  :      "  The 

Drunkenness  of  Noah,  201;  "Procession 

of  the  Kings,"  250. 
Guido,  Tommaso,  see  Masaccio. 


J. 

Jacopo  da  Pontormo,  see  Pontormo,  Jacopo 
da. 

L. 

Leonardo  da  Vinci,  .see  Vinci. 

Lippi,  Filippino  (1459-1504)  :  "  The  Assump- 
tion," 20;  "Madonna  and  Child  with 
Angels,"  ill.,  216;  "Music,"  240;  "The 
Resuscitation  of  Drusiana,"  270;  "The 
Triumph  of  St.  Thomas,"  94;  "Virgin 
appearing  to  St.  Bernard,"  80,  145 ; 
"Virgin  with  Saints,"  19-20. 

Lippi,  Fra  Filippo  (c.  1412-1469)  ;  "  Coron- 
ation of  the  Virgin,"  16;  Frescoes,  15-6. 

Luciani,  Sebastiano,  c.  1485-1547  (Sebastian 
del  Piombo)  :  "Birth  of  the  Virgin," 
160-1  ;  "  Christ  Bearing  the  Cross,"  141  ; 
"Dorothea,"  ill.,  128,  234  ;  "  The  Flagel- 
lation," 141  ;  "  Pieta,"  141  ;  "  The  Resur- 
rection of  Lazarus,"  141  ;  "  Three  Female 
Saints,"  ill.,  253-4;  "The  Venetian 
Maiden,"  128  ;  "  The  Violin  Player,"  ill., 
127,  176;  "The Visitation,"  27/.,  141,  206, 

Luini,  Bernardino,  c.  1475,  "  Susanna  at  the 
Bath,"  45. 

M. 

Masaccio,  Tommaso  Guidi :  "The  Birth  of 

the  Virgin,"  160  ;  Frescoes,  9,  15. 
Michelangelo,  see  Buonarroti. 
Mino  da  Fiesole,  36. 
Montorsoli,  "  St.  Cosmo,"  ill.,  267. 

P. 

Pacchia,  Girolamo  del,  b.  1477,  "  Scenes 
from  the  Life  of  the  Virgin,"  220. 

Palma,  Jacopo  (II  Vecchio),  1480-1528,  "  St. 
Barbara,"  254, 


INDEX   OP   PROPER  NAMES 


'289 


Perugino,  see.  Vannucci. 

Piero   di  Cosimo,  1462-1521:    "La  Bella 

Simonetta,"  ill.,  233  ;  "  Venus  and  Mars," 

'///. ,  260. 

Piero  dei  Franceschi,  -see  Francesca. 

Pippi,  Ginlio  (or  de'  Giannuzzi),  149'2-lo46, 
"The  Stoning  of  Stephen,"  105. 

Pisano,  Andrea :  Baptistry  Gates  at  Flo- 
rence, 8. 

Pisano,  Giovanni,  7. 

Pollaiuolo,  Antonio,  1429-1498  :  Engravings 

by,  57  ;  "  Prudence,"  ill.,  256. 
Pontormo,    Jacopo   da,   1494-1557:  "The 

Visitation,-'  148,  161,  219-20. 


R. 

Raphael,  see  Sanzio,  Raffaello. 

Robbia,  Luca  della  :  "Angel  bearing  Can- 
delabrum," ill.,  15:  "Philosophy,"  96-7. 

Romano,  Ginlio,  see  Pippi,  Giulio. 

Rosselli,  Cosimo.  "  The  Last  Supper,"  '209- 
10.  ' 

Rossellino,  Antonio:   "jNTadonna"  (relief). 

14,  248;   "Tomb  of  the  Cardinal," 

15,  237. 

Rubens,  Peter  Paul  (1577-1640):  "The 
Entombment,"  198  ;  "  The  Last  Supper," 
34  ;  "  Lion  Hunt,"  43. 


S. 

Sansovino,  Andrea  :  "  Baptism  of  Christ," 
27^.,  203;  "Justitia,"  169;  "St.  Anne," 
1512  ;  ill.,  270  ;  Tombs  in  Santa  Maria  del 
Popolo,  Rome,  ill.,  74. 

Sansovino,  J.,  "  St.  John  the  Baptist,"  ill., 
268. 

8anzio,  Raftaello  (1483-1520),  (Raphael): 
"The  Battle  of  Constantine,"  44; 
Cartoons  at  South  Kensington,  1515-1516  : 
"The  Blinding  of  Elymas,"  118-9,  120; 
"The  Charge  to  St.  Peter,"  114-5, 
120,  278,  281  ;  "  The  Death  of  Ananias," 
ill,  116-8,  120,  278  ;  "The  Healing  of  the 
Lame  Man,"  115-6,  1-20;  "The  Mira- 
culous Drauglit  of  Fishes,"  ill.,  111-14, 
120,  278,  218  ;  "The  Sacrifice  at  Lystra," 
119,  1'20  ;  "  St.  Paul  Preaching  at  Athens," 
119,  1-20;  "The  Chastisement  of  Helio- 
dorus,"  104-6,  '2'20-l,  255,  270,  273  ;  "  The 
Coronation  of  the  Virgin"  (Sketch  for 
Tapestry),  204;  "The  Deliverance  of 
Peter,"  106-8  ;  "  The  Disputa,"  90-5,  99, 
145,  158,  273;  "The  Entombment,"  ^7^., 
85,  197-8,  262  ;  "  The  Five  Saints,"  school 


of,  204;  "Incendio  del  Borgo,"  110,  221, 
2-28  ;  "  Jurisprudence,"  102-3  ;  "  The  Last 
Supper,"  by  school  of,  engraved  by  Marc 
Antonio,  34.  Madonnas:  "La  Belle 
Jardiniere,"  87  ;  "  Bridgewater  Madonna," 
86;  "Madonna  del  Baldacchino,"  89; 
"  Madonna  del  Cardellino,"  ill.,  87  ;  "Ma- 
donna della  Casa  Alba,"  ill.,  41-2,'  87, 
256;  "Madonna  della  Casa  Canigiani," 
88  ;  "  Casa  Tempi  Madonna,"  86,  206  ; 
"Madonna  del  divino  Amore,"  88-9; 
"Madonna  with  the  Fish,"  134-5  ;  "Ma- 
donna di  Foligno,"  ill.,  24,  132-133,  135, 
217,  2'27-8  :  "Madonna  of  Francis  L," 
89,206;  "Madonna  del  Granduca,"  ill., 
86;  "Madonna  in  the  Meadow,"  87; 
"Orleans  Madonna,"  86  ;  "  Madonna  della 
Sediai,"  ill.,  86-7,  206;  "  Sistine  Ma- 
donna," 29,  135-7,  146,  171,  217,  252, 
254  ;  "  Marriage  of  the  Virgin,"  80-1  ; 
"The  Mass  of  Bolsena,"  108-10,  252; 
"  The  Meeting  of  Leo  I.  and  Attila,"  110  ; 
"Mount  Parnassus,"  99-102,  244.  Por- 
traits: "  Beazzano  and  Navagero,"  124; 
"  Count  Castiglione,"  123-4  ;  "  Donna 
Velata,"  ill.,  128-9;  "La  Fornarina," 
128,  234;  "  Inghirami,"  122-4';  "Julius 
II.,  121-2;  "Maddalena  Doni,"  39,  121, 
128;  "Portrait  of  a  Cardinal,"  ill.,  124; 
"St.  Catherine,"  132;  "St.  Cecilia," 
131-2,  173,  -255  ;  "  St.  John  the  Baptist," 

176-  7,  231,  252  ;  "  The  School  of  Athens," 
9l)-l,  96-9,  148,  158,  244-5  ;  "  Spasimo," 
141  ;  "  The  Story  of  Cupid  and  Psyche," 
59,  223;  "The  Transfiguration,"  ill., 
137-40,  229,  "255;  "Women  carrjnng 
Water,"  ///. ,  229;  "The  Youthful  St. 
John  preaching,"  ill.,  224. 

Sarto,  Andrea  del  (1486-1531):  "Abra- 
ham's Sacrifice,"  176;  "The  Announce- 
ment to  Zacharias,"  167-8  ;  "  The  Annun- 
ciation," 1512  and  1528,  ill,  156,  163, 
169-170,  170-1  ;  "The  Arrest,"  166  ;  "The 
Assumption,"  176-7;  "  The  Baptism  of 
Christ,"  1511,  163,  168;  "The  Baptism  of 
the  People,"  165-6  ;  "  The  Beheading," 
166-7;  "The  Birth  of  the  Virgin," 
128,  158-162,  2-20,  2-25,  '235,  237,  251  ; 
"  The  Disputa,"  ///.,  172-3  ;"  The  Last 
Supper,"  ill.,  34;  "Madonna,"  174,  270; 
"Madonna  delle  Arpie,"  ///.,  169,  171-4, 
213,  227,  270,  272;  "Madonna  with  two 
SS.  John,"  ill.,  270;  "The  Madonna  del 
Sacco,"  ill.,  175-6;  "The  Madonna  with 
Eight  Saints,"  268  ;  "  The  Madonna  with 
Six  Saints,"  ill.,  174;  "  The  Naming," 
108  ;  "  The  Offering,"  167  ;  Portraits,  ill., 

177-  182;    "The  Preaching  of  John  the 


I 


290 


INDEX   OP   PROPER  NAMES 


i 


Baptist,"  ill.,  163-5  ;  "The  Procession  of 
the  Three  Kings,"  158,  178  ;  "  St.  Agnes," 
176  ;  "  St.  John  the  Baptist,"  ill.,  176-9  ; 
"Salome  dancing  before  Herod,"  1522, 
ill.,  166  ;  Scenes  from  the  Life  of  San 
Filippo  Benizzi,  158;  "The  Visitation," 
168. 

Sebastiano  del  Piombo,  see  Lnciani. 
Signorelli,  Luca  (c.  1441-1523)  :  Frescoes  at 

Orvieto,  217,  271. 
Sodoma,    ' '  Scenes  from  the   Life   of  the 

Virgin,"  220. 
Solario,  Andrea  da  (c.  1460-after  1515),  "The 

Beheading,"  1507,  44. 


T. 

Tibaldi,  P.,  "  The  Adoration  of  the  Shep- 
herds," ill.,  198. 
Titian,  see  Vecellio,  Tiziano. 


U. 

Udine,  C4iovanni  da,  see  Giovanni. 

V. 

Vannucci,  Pietro  (II  Perugino  or  Pietro 
Periigino),  (1446-1523)  :  "  Apollo  and 
Marsyas,"  39;  "Christ  delivering  the 
Keys,"  82,  114;  "The  Emtombment," 
ill.,  82;  "Pieta,"  80,  83,  148,  252, 
277;  "Portrait  of  a  Man,"  ill.,  124; 
"Virgin  appearing  to  St.  Bernard," 
80,  145  ;  "  The  Virgin  with  SS.  Sebas- 
tian and  John  the  Baptist,"  ill.,  79. 


Vasari,   "Venus,"  ill.,  196. 

Vecellio,  Tiziano  (Titian)  (1477-1576):  "The 
Assumption,"  140,  150;  "La  Bella," 
131  ;  "  Danae,"  268  ;  "  The  Entombment," 
85  ;  "  The  Murder  of  Peter  Martyr," 
279  ;  "The  Presentation,"  194,  196  ;  "  St. 
Jerome,"  ill,  281  ;  "  Venus,"  ill.,  260. 

Venusti,  Marcello,  "The  Annunciation," 
c.  1580,  206. 

Verrocchio,  Andrea  del  (1435-1488)  :  "The 
Baptism  of  Christ,"  ill.,  "22,  78,  202-4; 
"  Christ  and  St.  Thomas,"  14  ;  "  Colleoni," 
13,  42,  190,  229,  284  ;  "  David,"  ill.,  12, 
54,  231;  "Three  Archangels,"  227  ; 
"  Tobias  "  (?  Botticini),  ill. ,  227. 

Vinci,  Leonardo  da  (1452-1519):  "  Tlie 
Adoration  of  the  Magi,"  23-4,  133  ; 
Angel  in  Verrocchio's  "  Baptism,"  22, 
25  ;  "  The  Battle  of  Anghiari,"  42-3  ; 
"John  the  Baptist,"  253;  "The  Last 
Supper,"  ///.,  21,  29-34,  40,"  99,  207,  218, 
249,  250,  252,  276;  "  Leda,"  44;  "The 
Madonna  of  the  Rocks,"  22,  41-2  ;  "  Tlie 
Madonna  with  St.  Anne,"  88;  "  Monna 
Lisa,"  ill.,  26,  35-40,  78,  124;  "St.  Anne 
with  the  Virgin  and  Infant  Christ," 
ill.,  40,  256  ;  "  St.  Jerome  with  the  Lion," 
23;  "St.  John,"  44;  "  Study  of  a  Girl's 
Head,"  ill,  27,  36. 

Volterra,  Daniele  da,  "Massacre  of  the 
Innocents,"  277. 


Z. 

Zampieri,  Domenico  (Uomenichino),  "The 
Deliverance  of  St.  Peter,"  107-8. 


Richard  Clay  and  Sons,  Limited, 
bread  street  hill,  e.c.,  and 
bungay,  suffolk. 


V 


■4 


